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A 19–year–old Uyghur woman, Pezilet Ekber, is sentenced to death following a secret trial, the second Uyghur woman to receive the death penalty on charges of participating in ethnic riots last year. | A female Uyghur student in northwestern China was sentenced to death with a two-year suspension following a trial last April on charges of participating in ethnic riots that left hundreds dead, according to a classmate.
Pezilet Ekber became the second Uyghur woman to receive the death penalty in connection to the unrest. Another woman was executed by Chinese authorities earlier this year.
“Nobody knows what exactly led to Pezilet Ekber receiving such a heavy punishment, other than her ‘involvement in violence,’ because the trial was secret and her parents were only just informed of the decision,” her classmate, who asked to remain anonymous, wrote in a letter.
“After the trial, her parents were just given the judgment, and were warned to keep silent and to refrain from telling the content of judgment to anyone,” the letter said.
Pezilet Ekber, 19, had been enrolled in Russian language classes at Xinjiang University in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) capital of Urumqi just before the violence erupted, her classmate wrote.
But she had temporarily left the school because of her family’s financial difficulties and was working for a Han Chinese-owned business in the city’s Grand Bazaar as a translator and saleswoman at the time of the riots, the letter said.
Urumqi’s Grand Bazaar was one of the locations central to Uyghur demonstrations and violence during the July 5, 2009 riots, which left nearly 200 people dead, according to official Chinese estimates.
Pezilet Ekber was arrested two months after the unrest while visiting her parents in her hometown of Suydung, in the XUAR’s Qorghas [in Chinese, Huocheng] county, Ili prefecture.
In the letter, Pezilet Ekber’s classmate wrote that the two had met on July 4 last year, and that her friend had no plans to attend the demonstration the following day.
“Her workplace was at the center of the event so she was probably unable to keep herself away when she saw the demonstrators and witnessed the tragic event of the demonstrators being shot by police,” the letter said.
“She usually always took a careful approach to such subjects related to the ethnic problem, even if it was a class discussion, because of her family background—being the granddaughter of a former independence fighter.”
A concerned father
Pezilet Ekber’s father, Ekber, 45, was a former state security officer in Qorghas county, but was forced out of his job due to his family background when ethnic tension began to build in the XUAR in the late 1990s.
Her grandfather had served in Ili prefecture's Gulja city as a member of the East Turkestan Liberation Army shortly after its founding in 1944, seeking independence from China.
A friend of Mr. Ekber, reached by telephone, said he had traveled to Urumqi on April 16 to visit his daughter in detention, but police ordered him to leave the city within a day of his arrival.
“He left without seeing his daughter. It happened just a few days before Pezilet’s trial,” the friend said.
“After that, I never saw him again—I guess it was in order keep his daughter’s life safe. Now he has isolated himself from the public to avoid leaking ‘state secrets.’ I don’t know whether or not he was able to visit his daughter after the trial.”
Pezilet Ekber’s boss at the shop in the Grand Bazar, a man surnamed Zhang, briefly answered questions about her detention and subsequent trial.
When asked if Pezilet Ekber was available to speak, Zhang said she hadn’t worked at the store since September.
When asked when she would return to work, he answered, “My guess is that will never happen,” but hung up the phone before responding to questions about why she was unable to return.
Employees who answered the phone at the Urumqi Intermediate Court, which handed down the punishment to Pezilet Ekber, and the Ghalibiyet Police Station, which ordered her father to leave Urumqi in April, both refused to speak with reporters.
Ilshat Hassan, U.S.-based spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, said Pezilet Ekber may have been singled out by the court due to her family history.
“Usually family background is the most considered factor at the time of a decision, especially in political and ethnic cases tried by Chinese courts,” Hassan said.
“A Communist-oriented family background might save your life, even if you are a murderer, while an anti-communist or pro-independence family background can lead to a death sentence, even if you are innocent,” he said.
“I think Pezilet Ekber’s family background was one of the factors which influenced the decision.”
Pezilet Ekber is the second woman known to receive the death penalty in the aftermath of the Urumqi unrest, according to information made public by Chinese authorities.
In January, Hayrinsa Sawut, 20, was executed for committing murder during the riots.
A third woman, Gulmire Imin, received life in prison for her role as an “illegal organizer” during the 2009 demonstrations.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | December 2010 | ['(RFA)'] |
Pope Francis, in the most significant reform of the Roman Curia in 25 years, creates a second Secretariat, for Economic Affairs, headed by a Cardinal (which will work with the Vatican Secretariat of State, the reformed Vatican bank, or IOR, and the other economic departments of the Roman Curia), which will have an office with the power to audit any Vatican agency at any time. | VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday announced the first major overhaul of the Vatican's outdated and inefficient bureaucracy in a quarter-century, creating an economics secretariat to control all economic, administrative, personnel and procurement functions of the Holy See.
Australian Cardinal George Pell, one of Francis' core eight cardinal advisers and a sharp critic of current Vatican governance, was named prefect of the new office. He reports to a new 15-member economy council made up of eight cardinals reflecting various parts of the world and seven lay experts.
Francis was elected pope a year ago on a mandate to reform the Vatican after documents stolen by Pope Benedict XVI's butler revealed the Holy See bureaucracy to be a dysfunctional, Machiavellian world of petty turf battles, corruption and political intrigue.
Pell, the outgoing archbishop of Sydney, was remarkably candid about the 2012 leaks scandal, saying it showed a failure of governance under Benedict.
"Problems there have been, problems there are, and this is one factor that has to be addressed as the new pope comes into office," Pell told The Associated Press just days before Francis was elected in March 2013.
"It would be useful to have a pope who can pull the show together, lift the morale of the Curia (Vatican bureaucracy), and strengthen a bit of the discipline there and effectively draw on all the energies and goodness of the great majority of the people in the Curia," Pell said in what could now be seen as pitch for his new job.
The new structure, the Vatican said, is intended to simplify and consolidate existing management structures, and improve oversight, internal controls and transparency — and provide more support for the Vatican's works for the poor.
It's the biggest reshuffling of the Vatican's internal organization since Pope John Paul II in 1988 issued the apostolic constitution, Pastor Bonus, the blueprint for the Holy See's various congregations, pontifical councils and offices.
The changes appear to significantly diminish the scope of the Secretariat of State, which previously had administrative control over the Holy See while also handling diplomatic relations. The new Secretariat of the Economy's name suggests some sort of parity with the Secretariat of State — and in the official announcement, Francis said that the heads of the two secretariats are to work together.
The leaks scandal appeared aimed at discrediting the then-Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, blamed for many of the Vatican's administrative shortcomings under Benedict. Bertone has since retired and been replaced by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, an experienced Vatican diplomat.
The new economics body covers the budgets, financial planning and administration of the Holy See — the central governing structure of the Catholic Church — and the 44-hectare Vatican City State in central Rome which includes the profit-making Vatican Museums and Vatican's post office.
An auditor will be empowered to conduct audits of any Vatican agency, at any time, the announcement said.
The new structure is the result of a commission of inquiry appointed by Francis last summer to recommend ways to improve efficiency and transparency and reduce waste. Last week, with Francis' Group of Eight cardinal advisers present, the commission reported its findings.
The pope has yet to announce any decision on the findings of the other commission of inquiry, concerning the scandal-marred Vatican bank. That commission also presented its recommendations last week. | Organization Established | February 2014 | ['(AP via MSN News)'] |
An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition which hit a hospital in northern Yemen run by Médecins Sans Frontières kills at least 11 people. | An air strike has hit a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in northern Yemen, killing at least 11 people, the medical charity says.
Another 19 people were injured in the attack in Abs, in Hajjah province, believed to have been carried out by the Saudi-led coalition which is backing Yemen's government in its fight against Houthi rebels.
The coalition has not yet commented.
Local people said the hit follows days of air raids in the area. The first rescue workers to arrive at the scene had to move cautiously, fearing that the circling planes might attack again.
The blast immediately killed nine people, including an MSF staff member, MSF Yemen tweeted.
Two more patients died while they were being transferred to another hospital, it added.
The conflict in Yemen that began in 2015 has left more than 6,400 people dead, half of them civilians, and displaced 2.5 million others, according to the UN.
MSF said more than 4,600 patients had been treated at the Abs hospital since MSF began supporting it in July 2015.
A spokesman for the United Nations said the organisation was aware of the latest reports from Yemen and was trying to gather some details.
Last year, one person was killed in coalition air strikes on an MSF-supported health centre in the neighbouring province of Saada and a mobile clinic in the southern province of Taiz were hit in air strikes, according to the charity.
A hospital in Saada was hit by a projectile this January, killing six people.
The attack in Abs comes less than 48 hours after MSF said a coalition air strike on a Koranic school in Saada's Haydan district had killed 10 children.
The home of a school headmaster in Razih district was also hit that day, killing his wife and four of their children, witnesses told the New York Times. A second air strike killed four of their relatives as people tried to rescue them, they said.
The coalition denied targeting a school in Haydan, instead saying that it had bombed a camp at which the Houthis were training child soldiers.
The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes in Yemen since March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The strikes began after the Houthi rebels, backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over parts of the country, including the capital Sanaa, forcing the government into exile.
The government and its allies have since retaken the southern city of Aden. Saudi Arabia says the Houthis are supported by its regional rival Iran - something Tehran denies. | Armed Conflict | August 2016 | ['(Doctors Without Borders)', '(BBC)'] |
The Venezuelan military reports that on Friday, an American Naval reconnaissance plane entered its national airspace, threatening flights to Maiquetia Airport; the United States asserts that their aircraft was over international waters in the Caribbean on an approved mission. The US plane was followed for a prolonged time by a Venezuelan fighter. | The US military on Sunday accused a Venezuelan fighter aircraft of “aggressively” shadowing a US navy EP-3 Aries II plane over international airspace, a fresh sign of growing hostility between the two countries.
The encounter occurred on Friday, the day the Trump administration announced it was imposing sanctions on four top officials in Venezuela’s military counterintelligence agency.
In a statement issued Sunday, the US military said it had determined the “Russian-made fighter aggressively shadowed the EP-3 at an unsafe distance in international airspace for a prolonged period of time, endangering the safety of the crew and jeopardizing the EP-3 mission”.
The two planes did not collide and no one was hurt.
The US military did not give details of the EP-3’s mission or say where the encounter took place.
In a statement published by Venezuela’s government, the South American country’s armed forces said they rejected “the incursion of a US reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft” in the flight area surrounding Maiquetia airport, which serves the capital, Caracas.
The US aircraft was detected in Venezuelan airspace on Friday morning and did not report its presence to local authorities, the statement said, adding that it posed a risk to other planes in the area.
At 11.33am local time two Venezuelan fighter jets intercepted the aircraft and it was escorted out of Venezuela’s airspace, the statement said.
Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly used sanctions in an effort to oust Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, whose 2018 re-election has been deemed illegitimate by the US and most western nations.
Maduro has retained the backing of Venezuela’s military and other institutions, as well as China, Russia and Cuba.
“The Maduro regime continues to undermine internationally recognized laws and demonstrate its contempt for international agreements authorizing the US and other nations to safely conduct flights in international airspace,” the US military said.
The statement also took a swing at Russia, saying the close encounter in the air “demonstrates Russia’s irresponsible military support to the illegitimate Maduro regime”. | Armed Conflict | July 2019 | ['(Bloomberg)', '(The Guardian)'] |
Don Chu, an executive of a hedge fund networking fund Primary Global Research, is arrested on insider trading charges in the United States. | NEW YORK (Reuters) - An executive of a California research firm was arrested on Wednesday on securities fraud and conspiracy charges after U.S. prosecutors accused him of arranging for inside information to be leaked to hedge funds, the latest development in an investigation of the industry.
The arrest of Don Ching Trang Chu of Primary Global Research stems from wiretaps and the cooperation of Richard Choo-Beng Lee, a hedge fund manager who pleaded guilty last year as part of the insider-trading prosecution of Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and 22 other traders, lawyers and executives.
Chu, 56, also known as Don Chu, was accused in a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in New York of introducing hedge funds to corporate executives who gave them insider trading information.
The government scored a victory in the Galleon case on Wednesday when a judge ruled that telephone conversations of Rajaratnam’s that were secretly recorded by the FBI were admissible as evidence at his trial. Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and securities fraud and is scheduled to go on trial on January 17.
Prosecutors have described the Galleon case as the biggest investigation of insider trading at hedge funds in the United States. The investigation has widened to include subpoenas of several funds with billions of dollars under management.
In subpoenas served on SAC Capital Advisors and other hedge funds and mutual funds, authorities have asked for information about so-called “soft dollar” deals, an arrangement in which a hedge fund client executes trades through a designated brokerage that has some relationship with an expert networking firm such as Primary Global.
Expert networking firms take fees to match up hedge funds with experts in particular industries such as medicine, engineering and technology.
The investigation widened on Monday when FBI agents used search warrants to raid three hedge funds in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Lee once worked for SAC Capital. There is nothing in Wednesday’s complaint accusing SAC Capital of any wrongdoing. A spokesman for SAC declined to comment.
Authorities are looking at funds established by former associates of SAC founder Steven Cohen, according to lawyers and people familiar with the investigation.
A spokesman for Primary Global Research said in a statement that “based upon recent events, PGR has severed its relationship with Mr. Chu.”
The statement said Chu served as the firm’s liaison in Taiwan and that he had been with PGR for seven years.
Related Coverage
Chu, of Somerset, New Jersey, made a brief appearance before a magistrate judge in New York and was released on a bond of $1 million. Chu was not asked to enter a plea to the charges and both of his lawyers declined to comment.
The office of Manhattan federal prosecutor Preet Bharara said Chu had been scheduled to leave the United States for Taiwan on November 28. His lawyers said Chu had planned the trip to visit family. The court was told that Chu had surrendered his U.S. passport and agreed to surrender an expired passport issued by Taiwan.
Prosecutors said Chu had arranged for hedge funds to receive confidential information on companies including Atheros Communications Inc, Broadcom Corp and Sierra Wireless Inc.
Sierra Wireless said in a statement it intended to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.
Telephone calls between Lee and Chu from July 14 to August 28 of last year were recorded by the FBI, according to the criminal complaint. It does not identify the brokerage that hedge funds were directed to by Primary Global.
However, Primary Global owns a San Francisco-based brokerage called PGR Securities. A company representative declined to comment. The brokerage’s registration statement does not show any previous regulatory infractions.
Prosecutors claim that in 2008 and 2009. Lee struck up a relationship with Chu while Lee was working at Spherix Capital, a now-closed San Francisco fund that Lee managed with Ali Far.
Lee and Far have pleaded guilty to trading on inside information in the Galleon case and are cooperating witnesses.
Far worked at Galleon for many years. Lee is a former trader and analyst at SAC.
As part of his cooperation agreement, Lee agreed to tell prosecutors of any insider trading he engaged in at SAC, which he left more than six years ago.
Lee’s lawyer, Jeff Bornstein, said: “My client is and continues to be cooperating to the best of his ability with the U.S. attorney and the FBI. Beyond that I don’t have a comment on the specifics.”
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2010 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Unidentified gunmen kill eight people in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. | Mexican officials say unidentified gunmen have killed eight people in Nezahualcoyotl, a working-class suburb of the capital, Mexico City.
The attack comes shortly after another mass shooting in the area, which police say has not seen the levels of violence common in some northern Mexican states.
Police say the shooting may have been part of gang warfare for control of the city's drugs market.
The victims were all aged between 16 and 25 years old. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen opened fire from three cars, killing six males and one female gathered at a street corner.
The body of another female victim was found a few streets away.
Six killed in Mexico bar attack
| Armed Conflict | February 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
At least 6 people, including three security personnel, die and more than 16 others are wounded after a suicide bomber tries to enter a government building, is stopped by police and detonates himself in Swat, Pakistan. | MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide bomber targeting security forces killed at least 11 people on Saturday, Pakistani police said, part of a renewed push against the state after one of the biggest security crackdowns in years.
The assault near a security checkpost in Swat Valley, which also wounded 35 people, came a day after a suicide attack on the military killed at least 45 people in the eastern city of Lahore.
“Our men carried out these attacks and more strikes will continue all over the country because the entire Pakistan has become a colony of the United States,” Taliban spokesman Tariq Azam told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Qazi Ghulam Farooq, Mingora city police chief, said the suicide bomber in the latest attack was on a rickshaw.
Two soldiers, three policemen and five civilians were killed.
“I saw a burning vehicle ... at least five people, including some women, who burned to death,” a witness said.
The road to Mingora’s main courthouse was blocked by concrete slabs, sand bags and barbed wire. The blast left two rickshaws twisted and a car burning. Windows were shattered in nearby buildings in Mingora, Swat Valley’s main town.
The military launched a major offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in Swat in April last year, largely clearing Islamist fighters out after months of clashes.
Militants have gone on the offensive again after a recent lull in violence, challenging government assertions that an assault in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan had dealt a major blow to Pakistan’s al Qaeda-backed Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban have attacked many targets, including a volleyball match and army headquarters in the town of Rawalpindi, close to the capital, Islamabad.
“TERROR SIEGE”
On Saturday, security was tightened in the area. A Reuters witness saw a convoy of at least 10 vehicles near Rawalpindi with between four and six soldiers in each.
There was also a heavy security presence at intersections. Police said the measures were taken as a precaution after the Lahore carnage.
The Taliban have often melted away after offensives and then struck back after government offensives on their strongholds.
“In Swat and other parts of tribal areas, they have been defeated comprehensively. But there are what you call individual groups all over the country,” said defense analyst Mehmood Shah.
Highlighting the alarm in Pakistan, one front-page newspaper headline read: “Lahore Under Terror Siege.”
The latest wave of violence is likely to worry the United States in several ways. For one, it will raise fresh questions about stability in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Washington may also worry Pakistan will further focus on fighting homegrown Taliban, instead of hunting Afghan militants who cross the border to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the White House’s main priority as it tries to stabilize the country before a U.S. troop pullout in 2011.
The blast in Mingora was the sixth this week in Pakistan, and will add to pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari during a critical period. The economy is sluggish and foreign investors have been scared away by violence.
The unpopular Zardari also faces calls to hand over his major powers -- such as the right to dissolve parliament and choose the army chief -- to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Unlike Zardari, Gilani has not antagonized Pakistan’s powerful military and he may have the best chance of stabilizing Pakistan.
Amid the political turmoil, the attack on Saturday is likely to re-focus attention on security in Swat, a former tourist valley 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Islamabad,
Last month, a suspected suicide bomber killed six people in an attack on security forces in a market in Mingora, police said. (Additional reporting by Junaid Khan in Mingora and Kamran Haider in ISLAMABAD; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Paul Tait)
.
. | Armed Conflict | March 2010 | ['(The Sydney Morning Herald)', '(Reuters)'] |
At least 150,000 people gather in Kathmandu to support Maoists who want the Prime Minister to resign; a general strike is called for on Sunday, May 2. | Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has refused to step down, despite a mass street protest held by the Maoists in the capital, Kathmandu.
In a televised address, Mr Nepal urged more than 100,000 demonstrators to continue talks to find a compromise. The Maoists, the largest party in parliament, want to lead a national unity government. They vowed to launch an indefinite strike on Sunday. Correspondents say the peace process may be in danger of collapsing. It ended 10 years of conflict. Trading accusations
Saturday's march went ahead despite last-minute talks between Maoist leaders and senior government officials. "I appeal to the Maoists to end their strike call," Mr Nepal said, accusing his opponents of trying to topple the government from the streets. "Shutting down the nation is not the way to find a solution to this impasse," the premier added. In response, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal told his cheering supporters in Kathmandu that the party would launch an indefinite strike on Sunday. "We're compelled to call for an indefinite strike from tomorrow because of the government's lack of concern about taking the peace and constitution-making processes forward," he said. "Revolution and major political changes in Nepal have come through street protests," he added. Earlier this week he said he had "no alternative" but to increase pressure on the government, which he said had no intention of drawing up a new constitution by a deadline of 28 May. The Maoists say that the current cabinet is not supported by the people and that it must be replaced by a national unity government, the BBC's Joanna Jolly in Kathmandu reports. Peaceful rally
In disciplined groups, the Maoists marched from 18 points into a park in central Kathmandu, the BBC's Joanna Jolly in the capital reports. Many waved red flags and chanted: "Dissolve this puppet government and set up a national government." AFP news agency quotes police as saying there were 150,000 demonstrators - much lower than Maoist estimates of 600,000. Security forces have been put on high alert, with 15,000 police patrolling the streets. There have been no reports of any violence. The Maoists, who ended their rebellion in 2006, have the largest number of seats in parliament. They resigned from government a year ago, after the president overruled their decision to sack the army chief. In recent months, Maoist-led strikes and protests have brought Kathmandu to a standstill. | Strike | May 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(The News International)', '(CNN)'] |
The death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana rises to 73, with more than 300,000 people displaced. | People cling to debris as they are swept along a river in Marikina
A massive rescue operation is under way in the Philippines where at least 73 people are confirmed to have been killed in the wake of torrential rains.
Tropical Storm Ketsana triggered the worst flooding in decades in the capital Manila and nearby provinces. Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said troops, police and civilian volunteers had rescued more than 4,000 people - many clinging to each other on roofs. More than 250,000 have been driven from their homes, officials say. Military chief Gen Victor Ibrado flew by helicopter over suburbs of Manila on Sunday to see for himself drenched survivors marooned on top of half-submerged buses and on rooftops. TV footage showed some survivors clinging to high-voltage power lines. Correspondents say the rescue effort is intensifying as the weather cleared on Sunday. But some reports estimate that 80% of the capital is still under water. The government has declared a "calamity" in Manila and 25 provinces, allowing access to emergency funds. Latest confirmed figures say that 73 people are dead and at least 23 others are missing. One report puts the number of dead and missing at 106. Manila bus driver George Andrada said he had lost everything in the floods. "It happened very fast. All of a sudden everything was under water. I was not able to save anything except the shirt I am wearing," he said. Some residents have emailed the BBC with their experiences. Lovely Lansang in Marikina, near Manila, says: "I am currently seeking refuge in a shopping centre. Many people are stuck either on their roofs or in the second storey of their houses. "The city is also without clean water and electricity. Right now, I am still in the shopping centre because the roads here are impassable," the email adds. The equivalent of a whole month's rain fell in six hours as Ketsana, also known as Ondoy, lashed the northern island of Luzon. On Saturday, TV images showed gushing water turning roads into rivers, with floods chest-deep and rising. Appeal for calm
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo appealed for donations and called for calm. "I am calling on our countrymen, especially residents of metro Manila and other provinces in the path of the typhoon, to please stay calm, follow the instructions of local officials and civil defence authorities," she said in a TV message on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Mayor Mon Ilagan of the town of Cainta, in Rizal province east of Manila, told local media his town was "almost 100% under water". Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares was quoted by local media as saying other towns were completely inundated. Roads leading into Manila were rendered impassable by stalled vehicles, and some ferry services were cancelled. The Philippines chief weather forecaster has blamed climate change for the downpours that saw 40cm (16in) of rain fall on Manila in a single day. Thousands of passengers were stranded as international and domestic airports were shut down. Ketsana, with winds of up to 100km/h, is expected to head out over the South China Sea on Sunday and Monday. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | September 2009 | ['(Philippine Inquirer)', '(BBC)', '(China Daily)'] |
The death of an elderly Utah woman with a Zika virus infection in late June is the first reported Zika-related death in the continental United States. The woman had traveled to an area where Zika is spreading. The exact cause of death has not been determined; the lady had an underlying medical condition. | Follow NBC News The continental U.S. has had its first Zika-related death. Salt Lake County officials said a patient who died at the end of June had a Zika virus infection that contributed to her death.
Zika is almost never fatal, but its been known to kill people. An elderly Puerto Rican man died in April from Zika complications.
The virus is not yet spreading in the United States but health officials say thousands of people have carried it back with them from affected countries in Central and South America. The patient, who has not been identified in any way, had been traveling to a Zika-affected zone, health officials in Utah told a news conference.
"This person had an underlying medical condition and tested positive for Zika, Dr Dagmar Vitek of the Salt Lake County HealthDepartment told a news conference.
We know it contributed but dont know if it was the sole cause (of death).
Regarding the tragic #Zika-related death in #SLCo: We offer our condolences to the friends and family of the deceased individual.
The officials said they found out about the case by checking death certificates.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it wasnt clear how much of a role Zika played in the death. Zika normally causes very mild symptoms at the worst a rash and a fever.
"CDC has been notified by public health officials in Utah of the death of a resident who developed Zika virus infection after travel to an area with ongoing Zika transmission," the agency said in a statement.
"Laboratory tests conducted in Utah were positive for Zika; however, the exact cause of death has not been determined."
The Salt Lake County officials said Utah doesn't have the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry Zika virus so they are not worried it would or could spread there.
The risk is to pregnant women. If a pregnant woman becomes infected with Zika, it can cause severe birth defects in the baby.
| Disease Outbreaks | July 2016 | ['(NBC News)', '(Time)'] |
A bus skids off a mountain road in central Nepal, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than a dozen others. | Nineteen people died and more than a dozen were injured when an overcrowded bus went off a road in Dhading district of Nepal on Tuesday.
Police said 18 people were killed instantly and one passenger succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Kathmandu.
The bus plunged 300 feet after going off the road, district police chief Shrad Kumar Khatri said. Thirteen severely injured passengers were airlifted from the accident site to Kathmandu for treatment, chief district officer Bishow Subedi said. The local administration said most of the passengers were survivors of the 2015 earthquake from a remote part of Dhading who were heading to the district headquarters to receive financial assistance announced by the government.
Police believe the accident could have occurred due to lack of maintenance of the road, which was damaged by recent rains.
A series of accidents in Nepal has raised questions about road safety. Officials said many accidents were caused by poor implementation of traffic rules and the poor condition of roads and vehicles. A majority of the accidents have occurred on roads running through hilly terrain. | Road Crash | September 2016 | ['(The Hindustan Times)'] |
In response to rocket fire six hours before the end of a cease-fire, Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians including the wife and infant son of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif - the first deaths in a week - while Hamas launches over 130 missiles at Israel during the day. This is the 11th cease-fire broken by rocket fire from Hamas. , | GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed the wife and infant son of Hamas’s military leader, Mohammed Deif, the group said, calling it an attempt to assassinate him after a ceasefire collapsed.
Hamas says Israel tried to kill its military chief
01:12
Palestinians launched more than 180 rockets on Tuesday and Wednesday, mainly at southern Israel, with some intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said. No casualties were reported on the Israeli side.
Egypt, which has been trying to broker a long-term ceasefire in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks, said it would continue contacts with both sides, whose delegates left Cairo after the hostilities resumed on Tuesday.
But there appeared to be no end in sight to violence that shattered a 10-day period of calm, the longest break from fighting since Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 with the declared aim of ending rocket fire into its territory.
Israeli aircraft have carried out more than 100 strikes in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said, the military adding it was “targeting terror sites”.
Hamas and medical officials said 23 people had died in the latest Israeli raids, including Deif’s wife and seven-month-old son. Deif is widely believed to be masterminding the Islamist group’s military campaign from underground bunkers.
A Hamas official said Deif, head of Hamas’s Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, had not used the targeted house, from whose rubble the bodies of three members of the family that lived there were also pulled out.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, said in a televised statement addressing Israel “you have failed and you have missed” Deif in the attack.
Chanting “Qassam, bomb Tel Aviv!”, thousands of Palestinians later attended the funeral of Deif’s wife and son in Jabalya refugee camp. The woman’s mother told reporters she wished she had “another 100 daughters” to offer Deif in marriage.
Related Coverage
Accusing Israel of opening a “gateway to hell”, Hamas fired rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem late on Tuesday, demonstrating the Islamist movement could still reach Israel’s heartland despite heavy Israeli bombardments in the five-week conflict.
There was no confirmation from Israel that it had tried to kill Deif, who has been targeted in air strikes at least four times since the mid-1990s. Israel holds him responsible for the deaths of dozens of its citizens in suicide bombings.
“ALL OPTIONS OPEN”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to say whether Deif had been targeted, but he reaffirmed Israel’s longstanding policy of considering militant leaders as legitimate targets, adding that “none are immune” from attack.
Netanyahu said Israel’s Gaza campaign could last for a while. “This will be a continuous campaign,” he told a news conference in Tel Aviv, giving a vague description of Israel’s goals as seeking “calm and safety” for Israeli citizens.
Ya’alon, his defence chief, added that “all options are open, including renewed ground operations” in Gaza.
Netanyahu compared Hamas Islamists to Islamic State militants operating in Iraq and Syria, calling them “branches of the same tree” and accusing both groups of acting with “savagery” by killing and targeting attacks against civilians.
Abu Ubaida, the Hamas military spokesman, said the group would target Israeli public sites such as soccer stadiums and Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport. He warned airlines to stay away from Thursday morning and cautioned Israelis living near to Gaza against returning to their homes.
An Israeli airport spokesman said there were no disruptions reported in Thursday’s flight schedules.
Five children were killed in separate air strikes, according to Gaza health officials, and the Israeli military said it had targeted four gunmen in northern Gaza.
Hamas said it had fired two rockets at an Israeli gas installation about 30 km (19 miles) off the coast of Gaza in the first apparent attack of its kind. The Israeli military said no missiles had struck any gas platforms at sea.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says 2,040 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza. Israel says it has killed hundreds of Palestinian militants in fighting that the United Nations says has displaced about 425,000 people.
Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians in Israel have been killed in the most deadly and destructive war Hamas and Israel have fought since Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in 2005, before Hamas seized the territory in 2007.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party took part in the Cairo talks, was due to meet the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha on Wednesday, diplomatic sources said.
Israel instructed its civilians to open bomb shelters as far as 80 km (50 miles) from Gaza, or beyond the Tel Aviv area, and the military called up 2,000 reservists.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement he was “gravely disappointed by the return to hostilities” and urged the sides not to allow matters to escalate.
Egyptian mediators have been struggling to end the Gaza conflict and seal a deal that would open the way for reconstruction aid to flow into the territory of 1.8 million people, where thousands of homes have been destroyed.
The Palestinians want Egypt and Israel to lift their blockades of the economically crippled Gaza Strip that predated the Israeli offensive.
Additional reporting by Maggie Fick and Stephen Kalin in Cairo; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Gareth Jones
| Armed Conflict | August 2014 | ['(BBC)', '(AP via Fox News)', '(Reuters)', '[permanent dead link]'] |
Two hundred thousand people attend the funeral of Dera Sach Khand leader Sant Ramanand Dass in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. | Thousands of devotees have attended the funeral in India's Punjab state of a preacher killed in Austria.
Police were deployed and troops put on alert as mourners gathered in and around the city of Jalandhar to witness the cremation of Sant Ramanand. The preacher was killed by a rival Sikh group during a religious ceremony in Vienna on 24 May. The killing led to riots across Punjab by tens of thousands of his sect's lower caste Hindu and Sikh supporters. But the cremation took place without any violent incidents. Tearful mourners queued up all day to pay their last respects to the preacher. Mr Ramanand was a senior leader of the Dera Sach Khand sect which is made up almost equally of lower caste Hindus and poorer Sikhs. The city of Jalandhar is believed to be a stronghold of the sect. The BBC's Asit Jolly in the Punjab capital, Chandigarh, says it is thought the attack took place because Sikh hardliners see the sect - which incorporates Sikh customs within its teachings - as a heretical offshoot. Many mainstream Sikhs also find the sect's beliefs offensive, our correspondent says. 'Alert'
Following the riots that swept across Punjab after Mr Ramanand was killed, local police were eager to ensure security. Thousands of policemen patrolled the streets of Jalandhar and in nearby towns and villages to prevent any trouble. "The army has been put on alert as thousands of Sant Ramanand's followers are expected to pay their homage. We will not allow any disturbance," the AFP news agency quoted senior police official RK Jaiswal as saying. Mr Ramanand's body was brought by a special flight to the village of Ballan, the sect's headquarters on the outskirts of Jalandhar, about 75km (47 miles) from Amritsar. Mr Ramanand was attacked during clashes at a religious ceremony by six men armed with knives and a pistol at a temple in Vienna. Another preacher, Sant Nirajnan Dass, was among 15 people who were injured in the attack. It led to widespread riots in Punjab where supporters of the sect set fire to trains, vehicles and dozens of public and private buildings. At least three protesters were killed in the violence. | Famous Person - Death | June 2009 | ['(BBC)', '(Times of India)'] |
The U.S. Pentagon says that the CIA has arrested a senior al–Qaeda operative, Abdul Hadi al Iraqi, and transferred him to the Guantanamo Bay detention center. | He had been going to Iraq to take over al-Qaeda operations and possibly plot attacks on Western interests, it said.
He was accused of commanding attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan, and of involvement in plots to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao described the arrest as a "welcome development".
He is associated with leaders of extremist groups allied with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and including the Taleban
Pentagon spokesman
Profile: Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi
An Afghan defence ministry spokesman said it was "a major success" that would "help to get to the high-ranking terrorist network figures and... have a deeply negative effect on the network".
According to information about him provided by the Pentagon, Mr Hadi was a key paramilitary commander in Afghanistan during the late 1990s, before taking charge of cross-border attacks against US and coalition troops from 2002 to 2004.
A US intelligence source told the BBC he was arrested late last year in an operation which involved the CIA.
It was not clear where he was detained, or where he has been held since.
'Appropriate' treatment
A spokesman confirmed that Mr Hadi had arrived at Guantanamo Bay, and was being processed.
"Administratively and medically we're reviewing the information about him. He goes through a medical review... he's being put into our facility and treated like the rest of the detainees," Cmdr Rick Haupt told BBC News from Guantanamo Bay.
He said the Red Cross would be permitted to visit Mr Hadi.
He "will be treated appropriately... in accordance with US law and international obligations", the Pentagon said.
Mr Hadi would undergo a combatant status review to determine whether he should face a military tribunal, it said.
He is being treated as a "high-value detainee". There are 14 other such detainees among nearly 400 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi is one of al-Qaeda's most senior operational commanders.
According to the Pentagon information, he served in Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army, reaching the rank of major before crossing into Afghanistan to join al-Qaeda.
'Well-respected'
Born in Mosul, Iraq, apparently in 1961, he allegedly rose to a position of power and responsibility within al-Qaeda.
He is described by the US state department as one of Osama Bin Laden's "top global deputies", personally chosen by the al-Qaeda leader to monitor operations in Iraq.
A state department website advertised a reward of up to $1m (£500,000) for the capture of its quarry, who was described as 5ft 11in (180cm) tall, with a pale complexion, "a moustache and a long, heavy beard that is starting to grey".
"He has a reputation for being a skilled, intelligent, and experienced commander and is an extremely well-respected al-Qaeda leader," it said.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the suspect was "one of al-Qaeda's highest-ranking and senior operatives at the time of his detention.
"He is associated with leaders of extremist groups allied with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and including the Taleban," he added. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | April 2007 | ['(BBC)'] |
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes west of the Pacific Island of Tonga. There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage. | SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude struck 500 km (310 miles) west of the Pacific island of Tonga on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.
There was also no immediate tsunami warning.
Writing by Robert Birsel; | Earthquakes | August 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Trump administration officials say that President Donald Trump ordered the United States Armed Forces to conduct military strikes against targets of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in retaliation for downing an American surveillance drone the day prior, and that he changed his mind hours later and ordered an immediate stop to the operation while American warplanes were in the air and warships were in position. | Iran shot down a U.S. drone on Thursday it claimed violated its airspace. Trump ordered Iran strike, reversed course
President Donald Trump on Friday reacted on Twitter to reports that he ordered a military strike on Iran for shooting down an American drone, but then reversed his decision after the plan was underway, saying he called off the attack with just 10 minutes to spare because he was concerned about potential casualties.
In a series of tweets, he said, "We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not ... proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"
....proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019
....proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!
Sources told ABC News the reversal Thursday night was against the advice of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton.
The plan and reversal was first reported by The New York Times.
A senior level administration source briefed on the plan says it would have escalated the situation quickly had it been carried out. Officials feared the attack could have caused hundreds of civilian casualties.
Trump elaborated on his decision in an excerpt of an interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd that aired Friday afternoon.
Trump said "nothing was green-lighted until the very end because things change" and that he never gave a final warning.
He said planes were not yet in the air but as the plan got close to needing final approval -- "to a point you would not turn back, you could not turn back" -- he said he was asked: “Sir, we are ready to go, we would like a decision.”
"And I said, “I want to know something before you go. How many people would be killed, in this case Iranians?” he told Todd.
When told approximately 150 could die, Trump said he thought, "I didn't like it. I didn't think it was proportionate."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday, answering a reporter's question, said she had not been informed of the impending strike.
Later, in a statement, she said, "We are in an extremely dangerous and sensitive situation with Iran. We must calibrate a response that de-escalates and advances American interests, and we must be clear as to what those interests are.
"During our meeting with the President at the White House, Congressional Leaders stressed the necessity that we work with our allies and not strengthen the hand of Iran's hardliners. Democratic Leaders emphasized that hostilities must not be initiated without the approval of Congress," Pelosi said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was not informed, either, a source said.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone early Thursday, claiming it had flown into the country's airspace. The U.S. government claims it was operating in international airspace.
On Friday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ aerospace commander, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, had told reporters that while Iran was intercepting the drone it shot down Thursday, there was an American P-8 spy plane flying nearby with 35 crew members on board that also violated Iran’s airspace. He said they could have shot it down, too, but did not.
On Thursday, Trump called the decision to shoot down the drone a "mistake" made by somebody in Iran he labeled "loose and stupid" when speaking to reporters following a discussion with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The comments came following a morning meeting with his top national security advisers over the downing of what the U.S. military said was an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone flying over the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.
Shortly before, Trump had tweeted that "Iran made a very big mistake" after a top Iranian commander warned Iran was "ready for war."
Top politicians from the Senate and House, including Pelosi and Schumer, met with administration officials about the downed drone Thursday afternoon.
"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," Schumer said.
Pelosi called it a "dangerous situation" and cautioned the president that the U.S. "cannot be reckless in what we do."
Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, offered a strongly worded threat to the U.S. after the drone was downed.
"Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message," he said, translated from Farsi. "The message is that the guardians of the borders of Islamic Iran will decisively respond to the violation of any stranger to this land. The only solution for the enemies is to respect the territorial integrity and national interests of Iran."
The United States called for closed consultations at the U.N. Security Council on Monday to discuss "the situation in the Middle East," a UNSC diplomat confirmed to ABC News. A second diplomat said they will specifically discuss Iran.
ABC News' Luis Martinez, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Somaye Malekian, John Parkinson, Mariam Khan and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report. | Armed Conflict | June 2019 | ['(The New York Times)', '(ABC News)'] |
Since the beginning of October, nine Israeli citizens, 67 Palestinian and an Arab Israeli have been killed in this wave of violence. | Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian was killed and three Israeli soldiers injured in two attacks near the turbulent West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday.
One Palestinian tried to stab Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint near Beit Einun village north of Hebron and was shot dead by troops, the army said.
Palestinian medical sources later identified him as Fadi Faroukh, 29.
In a second incident in the same area, which is near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, three Israeli border police were injured when they were run over by a car in what police called an attack.
Israeli rescue services said one policeman was "moderately injured" and the other two lightly. The attacker was fired upon but escaped, police said.
Earlier, in the nearby village of Saair, Palestinians buried Raed Jaradat, 22, who was shot dead by soldiers during an October 26 attack, also at the Beit Einun junction.
His body had been held by the Israeli authorities until Sunday.
Israel has been withholding the bodies of suspected assailants as part of measures aimed at dissuading attacks on Jews.
On Friday, it said it had released seven bodies, apparently to ease tensions.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Sunday that he agreed to return the bodies of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to the Palestinian Authority on condition that burials did not become protest rallies.
"I ordered the return of bodies to the Hebron area. If we get an undertaking that funerals will be quiet, we shall continue to return them," he said.
"If not, we shall not return them and will even bury them in our territory."
Two Palestinians were wounded in clashes with security forces after Sunday's funeral, an AFP correspondent in Hebron said.
Nine Israelis, 67 Palestinians -- around half of them alleged attackers -- and an Arab Israeli have been killed in a wave of violence since the beginning of October, raising fears of another Palestinian intifada or uprising.
Palestinian and Israeli leaders have sought to calm tensions leading to violence, but many attackers appear to have been acting outside formal political movements.
While the attacks were initially focused in Jerusalem, the epicentre has recently shifted to Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, where there have been daily protests and attacks on Israeli soldiers.
The city, home to a shrine known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, has 200,000 Palestinian residents.
But the presence of around 500 Jewish settlers, protected by an army-patrolled buffer zone, is a constant source of tension.
Daredevil Alex Harvill, 28, crashed his motorcycle while practicing to perform a 351-foot jump at an airshow in Washington state on June 17.
The stars of 'Black Widow' assembled Friday to discuss the thrice-postponed film — and wound up pitching another Marvel movie concept entirely.
Hart said in an interview with Romper that his children are aware of the "gift and a curse" that celebrity brings.
Alun Cairns, the ex-Secretary of State for Wales, will earn nearly £360 an hour to provide advice to a Singaporean firm that owns over 120 jobcentres.
Anyone flouting the rules faces having their drone confiscated, being fined or even imprisonment.
During more than five years of harassment, about 30 pieces of mail with homophobic names on them were sent to the couple’s home in Massachusetts.
A federal judge threw out U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention safety rules for cruise companies operating in Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic Friday, handing a victory to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Win McNamee/GettySome liberals are furious with Attorney General Merrick Garland as the Department of Justice defends laws that they oppose and individuals they abhor, including Donald Trump.Some of the criticisms arise from a misunderstanding of the foundational obligations of the DOJ to defend the laws of the United States—including those at odds with the policies of the current administration.That does not mean, however, that the DOJ under Garland should defend every position taken by the Tru
REUTERS/Michaela RehleThe wild saga of the South African woman who claims she gave birth to a record-setting 10 babies—who have yet to be seen publicly—has taken several more dramatic turns.Health authorities took Gosiame Sithole into custody this week, reportedly for a psychiatric examination, prompting her attorney to threaten legal action to get her released.Meanwhile, a South African media outlet is reporting an exam showed no signs that Sithole had been pregnant—as a top government minister
If Gov. Ron DeSantis really cared about the meth-addiction problem in Florida, he would not be looking for solutions among immigrants at the Texas or Arizona borders, where he has no jurisdiction to enforce immigration law or run drug stings.
Embattled pop star Britney Spears posted an Instagram video answering fan questions ahead of her June 23 court appearance in her conservatorship case.
The footage, which was obtained by CNN after months of legal challenges, shows the ex-cop berating the officer before attacking him.
Rep. Ronny Jackson on Thursday said he's circulating a letter among House GOP colleagues calling on President Joe Biden to take a cognitive test.
You don't have to wait until Amazon Prime Day 2021 to score incredible discounts—check out the savings happening right now on these top-rated items.
Information like Social Security and passport numbers, addresses, and health data may have been accessed, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. spent $8 billion building an Afghan air force in its own image. But how long can it last after American forces withdraw?
The donor class should go for some Roy Blunt quid pro quo on the Jan. 6 commission and the Senate filibuster, says Joe Manchin.
As TikTok users discuss the separation of legitimate sex work from teenage grooming, 'Élite' depicts a perilous mix of sex, cameras and money.
Aleksander Barkov put together the best season of his still-young career this year. Now the Florida Panthers’ captain also has recognition in the form of his first major trophy. | Riot | November 2015 | ['(AFP via Yahoo News)'] |
After a poor performance on Super Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg suspends his presidential campaign and endorses former Vice President Joe Biden. | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The search for a Democrat to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election narrowed on Wednesday to a choice between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who staged a comeback in Super Tuesday voting to become the undisputed standard-bearer of the party’s moderate wing.
Biden was set to win 10 of the 14 states up for grabs on Tuesday, including delegate-rich Texas. The former vice president roared ahead in the overall tally of delegates who will choose a presidential nominee at the Democratic convention in July.
His strong performance ended Sanders’ status as the Democratic front-runner and led former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to drop out of the race.
Bloomberg on Wednesday gave up his presidential campaign and endorsed Biden, after spending hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money on ads across the United States. But Bloomberg failed to deliver convincing results on Tuesday, the biggest day of voting in the Democratic nomination campaign with contests in 14 states across the country.
“I’m sorry we didn’t win,” Bloomberg, 78, told a crowd of supporters in a New York City hotel. “A viable path to the nomination just no longer existed.”
He said he was endorsing Biden because he had the best shot at beating Trump. “I hope you will join me in working to make him the next president.”
The media billionaire did not say whether he would spend part of his fortune to help Biden, but Bloomberg’s absence from the race will help the former vice president. Both men appeal to the centrist wing of the Democratic Party.
In a tweet addressed to Bloomberg, Biden wrote: “I can’t thank you enough for your support—and for your tireless work on everything from gun safety reform to climate change. This race is bigger than candidates and bigger than politics. It’s about defeating Donald Trump, and with your help, we’re gonna do it.”
Sanders, a senator and democratic socialist who is popular with young voters, lashed out at what he said was “the kind of venom we’re seeing from some in the corporate media,” and attempted to draw a stark contrast between himself and Biden.
“What this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is: Which side are you on?” Sanders told a news conference in Vermont. He attacked Biden’s record voting in favor of trade deals that he says had devastated parts of the Midwest, Biden’s votes in favor of the Iraq war and a bankruptcy bill, and his past record on Social Security.
Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles, Biden said he did not want the primary race against Sanders to turn ugly.
“What we can’t let happen in the next few weeks is let this campaign turn into a campaign of negative attacks,” Biden said. “The only thing that can do is help Donald Trump.”
In another move that could reshape the race, Elizabeth Warren, 70, is “talking to her team to assess the path forward,” a campaign aide said.
The liberal senator, who was seeking to become the nation’s first female president, had disappointing results across the board on Tuesday, including coming in third in her home state of Massachusetts.
A resurgent Biden, 77, rolled to electoral victories across the South, Midwest and New England, setting up a one-on-one battle against Sanders, who won three states and led in California, which has the biggest pool of delegates.
Biden, whose campaign had been on life support just weeks ago, registered surprise victories in Texas and Massachusetts.
Tallies after Tuesday showed Biden leading Sanders in delegates overall by 433-388. A candidate needs 1,991 delegates to win the Democratic nomination on the first ballot at the July convention.
U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday as investors cheered Biden’s good night. Healthcare stocks provided the biggest boost as Sanders and his “Medicare for All” proposal, which would eliminate private health insurance, looked less likely to become a reality.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX both gained more than 4%, rising for only the second time in 10 days after being battered by fears about the coronavirus outbreak. [nL4N2AX412]
“For those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign,” Biden told roaring supporters in Los Angeles. “We are very much alive!”
Until a week ago, Biden had trailed Sanders in most state and national opinion polls.
Biden argues that after two terms by President Barack Obama’s side and decades as a U.S. senator, he has the experience both to beat Trump and run the country. He has promised greater access to healthcare and to mend relations with traditional U.S. allies in Europe that were frayed by Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
Sanders, 78, wants to establish a free universal healthcare system, forgive student loan debt and enact the “Green New Deal” of sweeping economic policies to fight climate change.
If Warren drops out, Sanders might benefit from some of her supporters shifting to him.
In an email to her campaign staff, Warren’s campaign manager, Roger Lau, offered a sobering assessment of Super Tuesday, just three weeks after he said internal projections showed she would finish in the top two in eight states.
Warren, he said, would “take time right now to think through the right way to continue this fight.”
Sanders said he had spoken to Warren over the phone on Wednesday.
“Elizabeth Warren is a very, very excellent senator, she has run a strong campaign. She’ll make her own decision in her own time,” Sanders said.
Trump said Sanders would have done better on Tuesday if Warren had dropped out of the race beforehand and backed him. “Had Warren endorsed Bernie, we would have had a different story now,” he told reporters in the White House.
In Tuesday’s biggest upset, Biden was projected by Edison Research to have won Texas, the largest prize after California. Sanders invested heavily in Texas and was counting on its Latino voters to propel him to victory.
Sanders, who had hoped to take a big step on Tuesday toward the nomination, won Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont, Edison Research said.
Biden, with overwhelming support from African-American, moderate and older voters, swept to wins in Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia. Edison Research on Wednesday projected Biden to win Maine.
Fox News and the Associated Press projected Sanders winning California, where 415 delegates are up for grabs. By Wednesday afternoon, Sanders was ahead by 8.7 percentage points with almost 90% of precincts reporting.
| Government Job change - Election | March 2020 | ['(Fox News)', '(Reuters)'] |
A TTC bus collides with a hydraulic crane mounted on a construction truck on Lawrence Avenue Toronto, killing one and injuring thirteen, in the first such incident since the Russell Hill subway accident in 1995. | TORONTO A 43-year-old woman is dead and 13 others are injured after a Toronto transit bus collided with a crane.
The collision happened on Lawrence Avenue just east of the Don Valley Parkway as rush hour began. Area residents reported hearing a loud bang at about 2:45 p.m.
Emergency workers and a police accident reconstruction team are on the scene and Lawrence Avenue is closed between Victoria Park and Don Mills.
All ramps from Lawrence to the Don Valley Parkway were closed for the investigation leading to traffic backups in the area.
The Toronto Transit Commission says the 54 Lawrence East bus is being diverted.
Constable Hugh Smith says nine people were taken to hospital after the late afternoon collision at Lawrence and Railside Road.
Four other people refused to be taken to hospital, Smith said.
A TTC spokesman could not say how many people were on the bus, but he believed none of the injured were in life-threatening condition.
“We deeply regret the loss of life in this incident, and our concerns are with all the other customers that were on-board the vehicle,” said Mike DeToma. | Road Crash | August 2011 | ['(Globe and Mail)', '(Vancouver Sun)', '[permanent dead link]', '(The Hamilton Spectator)'] |
The Maldives Police Service arrests the country's opposition leader, Qasim Ibrahim, after his party's failed bid to impeach the Speaker of the People's Majlis. | (Reuters) - Maldives police arrested an opposition leader on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government, they said on Friday, days after the opposition failed in a bid to impeach the speaker of parliament.
Qasim Ibrahim, the leader of the Jumhooree Party and a former presidential candidate, was remanded for six days by a Male court. Denying the allegations, his lawyer said Qasim had acted lawfully.
The largely Muslim island chain with a population of 400,000 and a reputation as a tourist paradise has been mired in political unrest for years.
The impeachment motion against Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, a close ally of President Abdulla Yameen, was defeated by 48 votes to zero in parliament after all opposition lawmakers walked out in protest at their colleagues’ expulsion from the chamber for unruly behavior.
A second impeachment vote, against the deputy speaker, is scheduled for Monday.
Police in their charge sheet said Qasim was arrested for allegedly of bribing and “undue influencing of parliament members and state security forces” in the impeachment vote against the speaker.
Police also cited “unlawful incitement to the removal, from office, of the legitimate government”.
Hussein Shameem, Qasim’s lawyer, said his client was an opposition whip and was by law entitled to try to convince lawmakers to vote a certain way.
“He has not used undue influence and no unlawful activities were done. He acted within the law,” Shameem told Reuters.
Qasim, a tourism tycoon who ran for the presidency in 2013, backed Yameen in the second round of the poll against former president Mohamed Nasheed. Yameen won by a slim margin.
After he and Yameen fell out, Qasim formed an opposition coalition along with former presidents Nasheed and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of Yameen.
The Maldives has been plagued by unrest since Nasheed, its first democratically elected leader, was ousted in disputed circumstances in 2012. He was later sentenced to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges after a widely criticized trial and now lives in exile.
Many potential challengers to Yameen in elections due in 2018 have been arrested for alleged security offences. The opposition alleges his administration is trying to cover up corruption including money laundering.
The government denies this and says it does not influence law enforcement.
Significant numbers of radicalized Maldives youths have enlisted to fight for Islamic State in the Middle East.
Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Nick Macfie and John Stonestreet
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | April 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Roger Federer defeats Fernando Gonzalez 7–6 6–4 6–4 at the Australian Open, claiming his 10th Grand Slam victory. | Roger Federer has left the tennis world wondering what next for the Swiss freak after he ended the giant-killing run of Fernando Gonzalez with another straight-sets clinic in the Australian Open final at Melbourne Park.
Federer survived a first-set fright to motor to a commanding 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 triumph to earn his third Open crown - and 10th grand slam title in total, placing the nigh-unbeatable 25-year-old equal fifth alongside American Bill Tilden on the list of all-time major champions.
Only living legends Pete Sampras, with 14, Roy Emerson (12), Rod Laver (11) and Bjorn Borg (11) remain above the Swiss master.
But, at this unprecedented rate, he could surpass the lot as early as next year.
In denying Gonzalez a special place in history as the first Chilean grand slam champion, Federer calmly and efficiently added another page to his expanding log of personal accomplishments.
He is the first man since Borg at the 1980 French Open to romp through a grand slam draw without dropping a set and the first in the open era to have won three straight majors on two occasions.
His 10th victory from 10 encounters with Gonzalez also gave Federer a career-best 36 straight wins.
The peerless Swiss hasn't lost since falling to British teenager Andy Murray last August.
Even with claycourt king Rafael Nadal on the scene, few are backing against the world No.1 completing the rare grand slam sweep of Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles in 2007.
"It's something he's very, very capable of winning," Laver, the last man to achieve the monumental feat back in 1969, said before Federer's semi-final destruction of Andy Roddick.
"I think he's got a great chance of being the best ever." Contesting his record seventh consecutive major final against a red-hot opponent appearing in his first, Federer made a shaky start.
He recovered from love-30 down to hold serve in the opening game and continuing to struggle in the windy conditions, making a series of unforced errors off his usually flawless forehand wing.
His uncharacteristically high mistake rate gifted Gonzalez two break points in the ninth game but the Chilean only needed one, unleashing a scintillating backhand drive past the net-rushing Swiss to strike the first blow of the match.
Gonzalez, though, paid a heavy price for squandering two set points serving at 40-15 the very next game.
Federer saved the first with a forehand volley into an open court and then Gonzalez dumped a forehand return into the net on the second.
It was a costly, costly error.
Federer broke back when he lured Gonzalez into the net with a vicious slice return and then rifled a backhand straight through the Chilean before holding easily for 6-5, only to waste four set-points of his own with more baseline blunders.
He needn't have worried, the top seed racing to 5-0 in the tiebreak and closing the set out after 65 minutes with an explosive off-forehand winner.
Gonzalez, 26, required a medical time-out before the start of the second set to receive treatment for shoulder soreness but the South American seemed unhindered as he held his next three service games comfortably.
But, as is his wont, Federer seized at 3-3, raising his brilliant game to establish a pair of break points and then ripping the heart out of Gonzalez when the Chilean's desperate drop-shot attempt drew another clean winner from the defending champion.
Federer locked up the second set in precisely half the time as the first with a thunderous ace down the middle to take a stranglehold on the match.
The third set was a virtual carbon copy of the second, Federer breaking the 10th seed at 3-3 and then running off with the championship with a flurry of breathtaking winners.
He brought up match point with a forehand screamer and smoked a backhand down the line to complete the rout in two hours and 20 minutes.
"He reminds me so much of the great player of my generation - Pete Sampras, who would cruise and wait and then get to 4-all and then you'd feel his presence," said commentator and two-time Open champion Jim Courier.
"Next to do on his to-do list? He needs the (calender-year) slam, he needs to get past 14 (majors), which I think he will.
"He needs the French. He needs to do that, and I believe he will get it. | Sports Competition | January 2007 | ['(The Age)', '(Reuters)'] |
The Chief of the armed forces along with the heads of the army, navy and air force all resign in Turkey. | The chief of the Turkish armed forces, Isik Kosaner, has resigned along with the army, navy and air force heads.
They were furious about the arrest of senior officers, accused of plotting, shortly before a round of military promotions.
A series of meetings between General Kosaner and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to resolve their differences.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul moved quickly to appoint General Necdet Ozel as the new army chief.
Gen Ozel is widely expected to be swiftly elevated to chief of the general staff in place of Gen Kosaner. Tradition dictates that only the head of the army can take over the top job.
There has been a history of tension between the secularist military and the governing AK party, with the two sides engaged in a war of words for the past two years over allegations that parts of the military had been plotting a coup.
Investigations into those allegations, known as the "Sledgehammer" conspiracy - appear to be the root cause of today's resignations, says the BBC's correspondent in Istanbul, with the senior military wanting to go ahead with scheduled annual promotions for some of the officers implicated - and the government refusing.
The Supreme Military Council, which will decide on promotions, is scheduled for next week.
The government says the top brass asked to retire.
But Gen Kosaner portrayed his resignation as a protest at the jailing of military officers in a variety of court cases.
"It has become impossible for me to continue in this high office, because I am unable to fulfil my responsibility to protect the rights of my personnel as the chief of general staff," Gen Kosaner told the Hurriyet news group.
Gen Kosaner and his senior commanders quit just hours after a court charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers, with carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government.
This case is the latest element of the protracted 'Sledgehammer' controversy - a coup plan allegedly presented at an army seminar in 2003.
Seventeen generals and admirals currently in line for promotion were among those jailed in the Sledgehammer prosecutions. Altogether nearly 200 officers were charged with conspiracy.
Twenty-eight servicemen will go on trial next month.
Gen Kosaner was appointed overall head of the Turkish armed forces just a year ago.
His appointment followed a period of intense friction between the government and the military over the Sledgehammer controversy.
At that point, the politicians vetoed the army's original choice for joint chief, Gen Hasan Igsiz, because he was implicated in the alleged plot.
It reportedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece, in order to spark political chaos and justify a military takeover.
The defendants have argued that the plot was a theoretical scenario to help them plan for potential political unrest.
The dramatic mass resignation has particular resonance in Turkey, which endured a series of military coups from 1960 to 1980.
In 1997, an army-led campaign forced the resignation of the country's first Islamist-led government.
The joint resignation of military chiefs is thought to be unprecedented in Turkey, which is a Nato member.
In Brussels, a Nato spokeswoman declined to comment on the resignations.
| Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londoño, also known as Timochenko, sign a peace accord in Cartagena, ending the longest running armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere. The final agreement will be submitted to popular ratification in a referendum on October 2. | CARTAGENA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia’s center-right government and the Marxist FARC rebel group signed a peace deal on Monday to end a half-century war that killed a quarter of a million people and once took the Andean country to the brink of collapse.
After four years of peace talks in Cuba, President Juan Manuel Santos, 65, and rebel leader Timochenko - the nom de guerre for 57-year-old Rodrigo Londono - warmly shook hands on Colombian soil for the first time and signed the accord with a pen made from a bullet casing.
A crowd of dignitaries chanted: “Long live Colombia, long live peace” as Santos handed Timochenko a white dove pin. One man waved a large Colombian flag that had an extra white stripe in homage to the peace deal.
“The horrible night of violence that has covered us with its shadow for more than half a century is over,” Santos said through tears. “We open our hearts to a new dawn, to a brilliant sun full of possibilities that has appeared in the Colombian sky.”
Colombians will vote on Sunday on whether to ratify the agreement, but opinion polls show it should pass easily.
Attendees at the event, many of whom also wept, observed a minute of silence in memory of those killed, maimed, raped, kidnapped and displaced during the war.
The end of Latin America’s longest-running war will turn the FARC guerrillas into a political party fighting at the ballot box instead of the battlefield they have occupied since 1964.
“No one should doubt that we will conduct politics without arms,” said Timochenko, who asked for forgiveness from FARC victims. “We are all prepared to disarm in our minds and our hearts.”
Guests at the ceremony in the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena were asked to wear white and included United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Showing its support for the peace deal, the European Union on Monday removed the FARC from its list of terrorist groups.
Kerry said Washington would also review whether to take the FARC off its terrorism list, and has pledged $390 million for Colombia next year to support the peace process.
“Anybody can pick up a gun, blow things up, hurt other people, but it doesn’t take you anywhere. ... Peace is hard work,” he said of a rare diplomatic good news story for the Obama administration as it contends with the seeming intractable war in Syria and other conflicts.
In the worst days of the war, attacks shook the capital, Bogota, which rebels threatened to overrun, and battles between the guerrillas, paramilitaries, drug gangs and the army raged in the countryside, parts of which remain sown with landmines.
Thousands of civilians were killed in massacres, especially in rural areas, as the warring sides sought to prevent people from collaborating with or supporting enemy forces.
Despite widespread relief at an end to the bloodshed and kidnappings of the past 52 years, the deal has caused divisions within Latin America’s fourth-largest economy.
Former President Alvaro Uribe and others are angry the accord allows rebels to enter parliament without serving any jail time.
In Cartagena on Monday, huge billboards urged a “yes” vote in the referendum, while Uribe led hundreds of supporters with umbrellas in the colors of the Colombian flag urging voters to back “no.”
The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which began as a peasant revolt, became a big player in the cocaine trade and at its strongest had 20,000 fighters. Now, its some 7,000 fighters must hand over their weapons to the United Nations within 180 days.
Colombians are nervous over how the rebels will integrate into society, but most are optimistic peace will bring more benefits than problems.
“This is the moment, it’s now or never,” said 50-year-old lawyer Melquis Pulecio, as he watched the ceremony with thousands of others on a big screen in central Bogota. “We are tired of this war - we were born to war.”
Colombia has performed better economically than its neighbors in recent years, and peace should reduce the government’s security spending and open new areas of the country for mining and oil companies.
But criminal gangs may try to fill the void in rebel-held areas, landmines hinder development and rural poverty remains a huge challenge.
With peace achieved, Santos, a member of a wealthy Bogota family, will likely use his political capital to push for tax reforms and other measures to compensate for a drop in oil income caused by a fall in energy prices.
“It’s such an important day,” said Duvier, a nom de guerre for a 25-year-old rebel attending a FARC congress last week in the southern Yari Plains that ratified the peace accord. “Now we can fight politically, without blood, without war.”
| Sign Agreement | September 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
70 protesters, including television actress Piper Perabo, are arrested at the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. |
Actress Piper Perabo was one of 70 protesters arrested in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday by Capitol Hill police, she claims.
The Coyote Ugly and Covert Affairs star, 41, had been protesting the first day of hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when she was escorted out by police, according to a video she later tweeted.
“I was just arrested for civil disobedience in the Kavanaugh hearings,” Perabo wrote in her tweet. “Many citizens before me have fought for the equal rights of women. I can’t be silent when someone is nominated to the Supreme Court who would take our equal rights away.”
The clip Perabo tweeted showed her being removed from the hearing room while she and other women interrupted the proceedings to demand senators don’t vote to confirm the Trump-nominated judge.
Capitol Hill police and a rep for the actress did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Authorities said in a statement on Tuesday obtained by CNN that they had “responded to numerous incidents of unlawful demonstration activities within the Senate Office Buildings today that were associated with the first day of hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Of the 71 people arrested, 61 people were removed from one Senate office building and charged with disorderly conduct while nine more were pulled from another office building “for unlawful demonstration activities” and charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.”
Perabo, who has been outspoken on Twitter about her disapproval of Kavanaugh’s possible appointment, later tweeted a photo of herself with other women who had been protesting and were also allegedly arrested. She also included some of their handles.
“Proud to stand with them, and stand up for equal rights,” she wrote.
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually,” Perabo wrote on a selfie in front of a D.C. court building, quoting James A. Baldwin.
If approved by the Senate, Kavanaugh, 53, who currently serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would take the seat of Justice Anthony Kennedy following his retirement from the bench.
The news of Kennedy’s retirement has stoked fears among Democrats, abortion rights activists and everyday citizens that Trump’s nominee could lead to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, which legalized abortion across the United States. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | September 2018 | ['(People)', '(The Hill)'] |
Voters in Iceland go to the polls for a parliamentary election with a centre–right coalition expected to regain office. | Centre-right opposition parties in Iceland are set for a return to power with all the votes counted after Saturday's parliamentary election.
The Independence party polled 26.7% and the Progressive party 24.4%, putting them on track to win 38 of the 63 seats.
The ruling Social Democrats' share of the vote dropped to below 13%.
It is a dramatic comeback for the parties widely blamed for Iceland's economic meltdown in 2008.
Iceland saw its prosperity evaporate, as the country's three banks collapsed, and the Social Democrats came to power a year later, with a programme of austerity tailored to international lenders' requirements.
"The Independence party has been called to duty again," said leader Bjarni Benediktsson, who looks likely to become prime minister. "We've seen what cutbacks have done for our healthcare system and social benefits... now it's time to make new investments, create jobs and start growth," he said.
But the party seen as the major winner of the election was the Progressives, whose vote almost doubled. "I'm very pleased," said leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.
The centre-right camp has promised debt relief and a cut in taxes. The two leading parties, which will now enter coalition negotiations, are also seen as Eurosceptic, and their poll success could slow down Iceland's efforts to become a member of the European Union.
The Eurosceptics argue that Iceland already gets most of the benefits of full membership through existing free trade arrangements with the EU and by being part the Schengen visa-free travel zone.
Many Icelanders have become frustrated with the outgoing Social Democrat government, saying that its austerity policies were too painful. Two new parties performed particularly well: Bright Future, which won six seats, and the Pirate party, with three. The Social Democrats saw their share of the vote fall dramatically to 12.9% (nine seats) while the Left-Greens' vote fell to 10.9% (seven seats). Social Democrat leader Arni Pall Arnason, while disappointed, refused to acknowledge that the two centre-right parties had been given a major vote of confidence. "Their democratic mandate to change society is absolutely zero," he said.
| Government Job change - Election | April 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Taliban reject peace talks with the Afghan government. | The Taliban have rejected Kabul’s offer of talks next month in Saudi Arabia where the militants, fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan, will meet U.S. officials to further peace efforts, a Taliban leader said on Sunday.
Representatives from the Taliban, the United States and regional countries met this month in the United Arab Emirates for talks to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.
But the Taliban have refused to hold formal talks with the Western-backed Afghan government.
“We will meet the U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia in January next year and we will start our talks that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi,” a member of the Taliban’s decision-making Leadership Council told Reuters. “However, we have made it clear to all the stakeholders that we will not talk to the Afghan government.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said the leaders of the group would not talk to the Afghan government.
The militants have insisted on first reaching an agreement with the United States, which the group sees as the main force in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified after Taliban representatives started meeting U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad this year. Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times to discuss the withdrawal of international forces and a ceasefire in 2019.
But the United States has insisted that any final settlement must be led by the Afghans.
According to data from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission published in November, the government of President Ashraf Ghani has control or influence over 65 percent of the population but only 55.5 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts, less than at any time since 2001. The Taliban say they control 70 percent of the country.
A close aide to Ghani said the government would keep trying to establish a direct line of diplomatic communication with the Taliban.
“Talks should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned,” the aide said on condition of anonymity. “It is important that the Taliban acknowledge this fact.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a pullout of American troops from Syria, a decision that prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, and there have been reports that he is considering a partial pullout from Afghanistan.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | December 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Pope Francis donates 100,000 euros for the poor of Aleppo. | VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has sent 100,000 euros ($106,090) to the poor in the ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, a Vatican spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday.
The Vatican administration, known as the Curia, contributed to the donation, which will be made through the papal charity office and the Franciscan order working in the Holy Land.
Aleppo was Syria’s most populous city before war broke out six years ago, but swathes of it have been destroyed and thousands displaced in the conflict gripping the country.
Government forces, which seized the city from rebels in December after months of intense fighting, have captured its main water supply station from Islamic State, a monitor group said this week.
Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Toby Davis
| Financial Aid | March 2017 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Amidst controversy, the Bureau of Land Management accedes to the release of the Bundy family's cattle. | By Jennifer Dobner BUNKERVILLE, Nevada (Reuters) - U.S. officials ended a stand-off with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert on Saturday, calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back to the rancher who owned them. The dispute less than 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas between rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had simmered for days. Bundy had stopped paying fees for grazing his cattle on the government land and officials said he had ignored court orders. Anti-government groups, right-wing politicians and gun-rights activists camped around Bundy's ranch to support him in a standoff that tapped into long-simmering anger in Nevada and other Western states, where vast tracts of land are owned and governed by federal agencies. The bureau had called in a team of armed rangers to Nevada to seize the 1,000 head of cattle on Saturday but backed down in the interests of safety. "Based on information about conditions on the ground and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public," the bureau's director, Neil Kornze, said in a statement. The protesters, who at the height of the standoff numbered about 1,000, met the news with applause. Then they quickly advanced on the metal pens where the cattle confiscated earlier in the week were being held. After consultations with the rancher's family, the bureau decided to release the cattle it had rounded up, and the crowd began to disperse. "This is what I prayed for," said Margaret Houston, one of Bundy's sisters. "We are so proud of the American people for being here with us and standing with us." A number of Bundy's supporters, who included militia members from California, Idaho and other states, dressed in camouflage and carried rifles and sidearms. During the stand-off, some chanted "open that gate" and "free the people." A man who identified himself as Scott, 43, said he had traveled from Idaho along with two fellow militia members to support Bundy. "If we don't show up everywhere, there is no reason to show up anywhere," said the man, dressed in camouflage pants and a black flak jacket crouched behind a concrete highway barrier, holding an AR-15 rifle. "I'm ready to pull the trigger if fired upon," Scott said. LONG-SIMMERING ANGER The dispute between Bundy and federal land managers began in 1993 when he stopped paying monthly fees of about $1.35 per cow-calf pair to graze public lands that are also home to imperiled animals such as the Mojave Desert tortoise. The government also claims Bundy has ignored cancellation of his grazing leases and defied federal court orders to remove his cattle. "We won the battle," said Ammon Bundy, one of the rancher's sons. The bureau said Cliven Bundy still owes taxpayers more than $1 million, which includes both grazing fees and penalties, and that it would work to resolve the matter administratively and through the court system. Jack Kay, a professor of communication at Eastern Michigan University and an expert on militias, said the federal government did well to step back from the conflict. "These things tend to escalate, someone looks like they're going to pull the trigger and then something happens," he said. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, who earlier in the week suggested the federal government had created an atmosphere of "intimidation," said in a statement on Saturday he welcomed the bureau's action. "Given the circumstances, today's outcome is the best we could have hoped for," he said. Hundreds of Bundy supporters, some heavily armed, had camped on the road leading to his ranch in a high desert spotted with sagebrush and mesquite trees. Some held signs reading "Americans united against government thugs," while others were calling the rally the "Battle of Bunkerville," a reference to a American Revolutionary War battle of Bunker Hill in Boston. The large crowd at one point blocked all traffic on Interstate 15. Later, as lanes opened up, motorists honked to support the demonstrators and gave them thumbs-up signs. In an interview prior to the bureau's announcement, Bundy said he was impressed by the level of support he had received. "I'm excited that we are really fighting for our freedom. We've been losing it for a long time," Bundy said. But an official with an environmental group that had notified the government it would sue unless federal land managers sought to protect tortoises on the grazing allotment used by Bundy's cattle expressed outrage at the end of the cattle roundup. "The sovereign militias are ruling the day," said Rob Mrowka, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Now that this precedent has been set and they're emboldened by the government's capitulation, what's to stop them from applying the same tactics and threats elsewhere?" Roger Taylor, retired district manager with the Bureau of Land Management in Arizona, also said the agency's decision to release the cattle will have repercussions. "The (agency) is going to be in a worse situation where they will have a much more difficult time getting those cattle off the land and getting Bundy in compliance with regulations," he said. (Additional reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Writing by Scott Malone and Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by David Gregorio, Lisa Shumaker, Robert Birsel) | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | April 2014 | ['(Fox)', '(Yahoo News)'] |
The Russian Ministry of Defence says the Syrian Army has gained control over Manbij and the surrounding area, adding, "Cooperation with the Turkish side has been arranged". The U.S. military spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve announces the United States has withdrawn their forces from Manbij. | MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The Syrian army has established full control over the city of Manbij and nearby settlements, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Tuesday.
"The Syrian government army has established full control over the city of Manbij and nearby inhabited communities," the ministry said.
According to the Defense Ministry, Russian military police continue to patrol the northwestern borders of Manbij District along the line of engagement of the Syrian and Turkish armed forces. "Cooperation with the Turkish side has been arranged," the ministry added.
Manbij located some 85 kilometers east of Aleppo was liberated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in August 2016. It was earlier an outpost for terrorists from the Islamic State group (outlawed in Russia).
On October 9, Ankara announced the launch of a new military campaign in northern Syria dubbed Operation Peace Spring, which began with airstrikes on the positions of Kurdish units. Its objective is to create a buffer zone in northern Syria where Syrian refugees could return from Turkey, the Erdogan regime believes. Syria’s SANA news agency branded the operation as an act of aggression, while the global community condemned Ankara’s actions.
On Sunday evening, SANA news agency reported that Damascus had deployed troops to northern Syria to counter the Turkish army.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that US troops had abandoned two of their bases in Syria and left in the direction of the Iraqi border.
"Servicemen of the US Armed Forces have abandoned their bases in the area of Dadat, a settlement located to the northwest of Manbij, and Umm Miyal, leaving for the border between Syria and Iraq. Currently, Dadat and Umm Miyal are held by the Syrian government forces," the statement informs.
Earlier, the Newsweek magazine informed, citing a senior Pentagon official, that Washington had agreed to hand over control of the Syrian city of Manbij, located in the north of the Aleppo province, to Moscow. The article claimed that the US had begun to withdraw its troops from the city, planning to help Russia establish its presence there amid Turkey’s attempts to defeat the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which currently control Manbij. | Government Policy Changes | October 2019 | ['(TASS)', '(Military Times)'] |
Aftershocks cause panic in the Greek island of Kos after a deadly earthquake that injured hundreds. | Frightened tourists said they believed another earthquake was happening, such was the strength of the tremor
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Two strong aftershocks have struck the Greek island of Kos within minutes of each other, sending startled residents and tourists scurrying away from homes and restaurants.
A tremor measuring a preliminary 4.4 magnitude struck at 8.09pm local time (6.09on BST), sending restaurant customers scurrying toward the middle of the town's main square, as far away as possible from buildings. Sixteen minutes later, a second 4.6-magnitude tremor struck, the Athens Geodynamics Institute reported. The first tremor had its epicentre only 13 miles northeast of Kos at a depth of 6 miles. Hundreds of residents and tourists spent Friday night sleeping outdoors on the island, too afraid to return to their homes or hotels after the quake that struck early on Friday, killing two men on Kos and injuring almost 500 others in Greece and Turkey.
Many camped out in parks and olive groves, or slept in their cars or on beach and swimming pool lounge chairs. The aftershocks meant that many would spend a second night outdoors. During the day in Kos, churches, an old mosque, the port's 14th-century castle and other old buildings that suffered in the quake were being checked by archaeologists and experts from Greece's Culture Ministry. The US Geological Survey measured Friday's earthquake at magnitude 6.7, with Greek and Turkish estimates a fraction lower. Two men, a Turk and a Swede, were killed when a wall collapsed into a popular bar in the Old Town of Kos. The most seriously injured in Greece were airlifted to hospitals on the mainland and the southern island of Crete, and at least two were still in critical condition on Saturday. The Turkish man's parents were on the island making arrangements to repatriate his body home by boat, possibly on Sunday. Panagiotis Bekali, a 30-year-old resident, spent the night sleeping in an olive grove with relatives while his five-year-old son and 16-year-old nephew slept in the family car. “There were cracks in the house (from the earthquake) so we went straight out,” he said. “We were afraid to stay indoors, so the whole family slept outside.” Dozens of aftershocks have shaken the island. John Grant, a 60-year-old tourist from Britain, said he felt safer sleeping outside. “Coming from somewhere that doesn't have earthquakes, you don't understand,” he said from his makeshift bed on a lounge chair. “So to me it was very frightening being in the building. But being outside, I know I'm safe.” About 350 of the injuries occurred in Turkey, in Bodrum and other beach resorts, as people fled buildings and as a sea swell flung cars off the road and pushed boats ashore. Seismologists said the shallow depth of the undersea quake Friday was to blame for the damage. In Kos, the quake damaged the island's main port, so ferries were being diverted to the smaller port of Kefalos on the island's southwestern coast. Serif Damadoglou Soukri, the imam of Kos, said the greatest damage to Kos mosques was sustained by the central 17th-century Defternatar Ibrahim Pasa mosque, whose minaret, restored a few years ago, collapsed completely. Ancient columns also toppled over in the southern part of the 2nd-century agora in the main town. AFP/Getty Images
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Greek Orthodox Priest Vassilis Hlampanis said one of the damaged churches was repairable. “The greatest damage was sustained mainly in part of the sanctuary, in the middle part which fell, but there are also other sections around the external brickwork and certainly also internally,” he said. Kos Mayor Giorgos Kyritsis said island's biggest infrastructure problem was the damage to the main port. Coast guard divers were on the scene inspecting the jetty. “Life on the island is returning to normal,” Kyritsis said. “The infrastructure problems are being repaired.” The mayor said Kos hadn't seen many tourist cancellations as a result of the quake. “(Visitors) are touring the island with their tour guides. We don't have a big problem. The ferry connection has been restored with the port of Kefalos and we are waiting as soon as possible to repair the damage at the port,” he said. Gift shop owner Giannis Manoutkos said life on the island had returned to its easy-going ways. “Everything is normal now. The situation was bad for two days ... we are coming to a normal life again,” he said.
Associated Press
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| Earthquakes | July 2017 | ['(The Independent)'] |
The recording industry wins a key victory with a court in the U.S. state of Minnesota finding that a woman was liable for damages of $220,000 for sharing copyrighted music online through Kazaa. | Jurors ordered Jammie Thomas, 30, to pay record companies $220,000 — or $9,250 for each of 24 songs for which the companies sought damages. They could have awarded damages as low as $750 per song.
Thomas and her attorney, Brian Toder, declined comment as they left the courthouse.
In the first such lawsuit to go to trial, six record companies accused Thomas, 30, of Brainerd, of offering 1,702 songs online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. Thomas had denied wrongdoing and during the trial testified that she didn't have a Kazaa account.
Record companies have filed some 26,000 lawsuits since 2003 over file-sharing, which has hurt sales because it allows people to get music for free instead of paying for recordings in stores. Many other defendants have settled by paying the companies a few thousand dollars.
During the three-day trial, record companies presented evidence they said showed the copyrighted songs were offered by a Kazaa user under the name "tereastarr." Their witnesses, including officials from an Internet provider and a security firm, testified that the Internet address used by "tereastarr" belonged to Thomas.
Toder had argued at closing that record companies never proved that "Jammie Thomas, a human being, got on her keyboard and sent out these things."
"We don't know what happened," Toder told jurors. "All we know is that Jammie Thomas didn't do this."
Richard Gabriel, the industry's lead attorney, called that defense "misdirection, red herrings, smoke and mirrors." And he asked jurors to find Thomas liable to send a message to other illegal downloaders.
"I only ask that you consider that the need for deterrence here is great," he said.
Copyright law sets a damage range of $750 to $30,000 per infringement, or up to $150,000 if the violation was "willful." Jurors ruled that Thomas' infringement was willful, but awarded damages in a middle range.
Before the verdict, an official with an industry trade group said he was surprised it took so long for such a lawsuit to come to trial.
Illegal downloads have "become business as usual, nobody really thinks about it," said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, which coordinates the lawsuits. "This case has put it back in the news. Win or lose, people will understand that we are out there trying to protect our rights."
Though Thomas denied wrongdoing, her testimony was complicated by the fact that she had replaced her computer's hard drive after the sharing was alleged to have taken place — and later than she said in a deposition before trial.
The hard drive in question was not presented at trial by either party, though Thomas used her new one to show the jury how fast it copies songs from CDs. That was an effort to counter an industry witness's assertion that the songs on the old drive got there too fast to have come from CDs she owned — and therefore must have been downloaded illegally.
Record companies said Thomas was sent an instant message in February 2005, warning her that she was violating copyright law. Her hard drive was replaced the following month, not in 2004, as she said in the deposition.
The record companies involved in the lawsuit are Sony BMG, Arista Records, Interscope Records, UMG Recordings, Capitol Records and Warner Bros. Records. | Organization Fine | October 2007 | ['(USA Today)'] |
TV Slovenia exit polls show that Janez Janša's anti-immigration Slovenian Democratic Party would win a plurality of 24.4% of the votes. List of Marjan Šarec , the party of the mayor of Kamnik, would follow with 12.6%. | LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - The opposition anti-immigrant center-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) was set to win the Slovenian general election on Sunday with 24.4 percent of the votes, according to exit polls by the national TV channel TV Slovenia.
The center-left party of the Mayor of Kamnik Marjan Sarec, LMS, followed with 12.6 percent of the vote. Preliminary results will be issued by the State Election Commission later on Sunday.
| Government Job change - Election | June 2018 | ['(SDS)', '(LMS)', '(Reuters)'] |
The military of Sri Lanka declares 12 of its soldiers and one policeman killed in a suicide attack by the Tamil Tigers in Mullaittivu. | Sri Lanka's military says 12 soldiers and a policemen have been killed during a Tamil Tiger attack on a base in the northern area of Vavuniya.
The Tigers say 10 of their suicide fighters were killed in the raid.
The government says a Tiger plane was shot down, a claim which the rebel group has denied.
Meanwhile, the UN says its staff will begin leaving rebel-held territory this week, after a government order banning foreign aid workers from the area.
Indian technicians
The Ministry of Defence says the pre-dawn land and air attack by the Tigers on an army and air force complex was "completely foiled".
It said that 10 Tamil Tigers had been killed, as well as 12 soldiers and one policeman.
Sources in the Sri Lanka air force also said they had shot down a Tamil Tiger plane in the Mullaittivu region. If confirmed, it would be the first rebel plane downed by the military. The media are denied access to the area.
The Indian High Commission in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, told the BBC Tamil service that two Indian radar technicians working at the air base had been injured in the attack. Its spokesman Thinkar Asthana said the technicians were doing routine maintenance and servicing work in the complex.
That has been denied by the Sri Lankan army.
In their account of the fighting, the Tigers said that 10 of their suicide attackers died and that they had destroyed a Sri Lankan air force radar station. They said at least 20 soldiers had been killed and they denied that any of their planes had been shot down.
Weapon stores, a communication tower, a communication facility and anti-aircraft guns were destroyed in this attack, the Tigers' military spokesman, Rasiah Marshall, said.
The Tigers released a photograph of the suicide attackers, taken with Tamil Tiger leader Prabhakaran, before the attack and said the suicide squad had been assisted by other fighters on land and in the airplanes.
The Tigers' rudimentary air force began operations last year with a surprise attack on an air base on the outskirts of the capital, Colombo.
The BBC's Roland Buerk in Colombo says the Tamil Tigers have a number of small Czech-built, two-seater, propeller-driven Zlin-143 aircraft, which are operated from jungle airstrips.
They are thought to have been smuggled into the island in pieces, then reassembled and modified to carry bombs, our correspondent says.
Tuesday's clash comes as government forces continue a major offensive against the rebels in northern areas of the island.
On Monday, the government ordered all aid workers out of the battle zone, saying it could not guarantee their safety.
The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority in the north and east of Sri Lanka for 25 years. More than 70,000 people have died. | Armed Conflict | September 2008 | ['(BBC News)'] |
Thousands of cheering supporters greet Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi outside the headquarters of the National League for Democracy in Yangon. | Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged her supporters not to give up hope, a day after her release from house arrest. "There is no reason to lose heart," she told thousands outside the headquarters of her political party in Rangoon.
Ms Suu Kyi was released by the military when her sentence ended on Saturday. World leaders and human rights groups have welcomed her release. She had spent 15 of the past 21 years either under house arrest or in prison.
US President Barack Obama welcomed her release as "long overdue", while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Ms Suu Kyi was an "inspiration", and urged Burma to free its 2,200 political prisoners.
Ms Suu Kyi has told the BBC in her first interview that she is willing to meet Burma's leader, Senior General Than Shwe, to help work towards national reconciliation.
"I think we will have to sort out our differences across the table, talking to each other, agreeing to disagree, or finding out why we disagree and trying to remove the sources of our disagreement," she said.
"There are so many things that we have to talk about," she added. Her release came six days after Burma held its first elections in 20 years, which was won by the biggest military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), but widely condemned as a sham.
Ms Suu Kyi's now-disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last election in 1990, but was never allowed to take power. She has been under house arrest or in prison almost continually ever since.
On Saturday, lawyers said no conditions had been placed on her freedom. But it is not yet clear what political role she will be able to play.
The ruling junta has restricted her travel and freedom to associate during previous brief spells of liberty, and demanded she quit politics. Ms Suu Kyi was mobbed by her supporters as she made her way for the first time since her release from her house to the NLD's offices.
First, she met party members and foreign diplomats, and then addressed a crowd of about 4,000 people. People chanted "We love Suu", amid thunderous applause.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner said freedom of speech was the basis of democracy, but warned her followers that if they wanted change they would have to go about getting it in the right way.
"We must work together," she told them. "We Burmese tend to believe in fate, but if we want change we have to do it ourselves."
She pledged to continue her work "with all democratic forces" towards national reconciliation, and had no ill-feelings towards those who detained her.
"They treated me well. I only wish they treated the people in the same way," she said, adding that she had listened to media broadcasts for up to six hours a day.
And, in a veiled reference to last week's election, told the crowd: "Nothing can be achieved without the participation of the people."
The 65-year-old reportedly spent much of Saturday evening discussing the future of the NLD, which was officially disbanded after it boycotted the election, and she urged people to tell the party what they wanted.
"Please let us know what you are thinking, what is on your mind. I would like to know over the last six years what changes have taken place in the people and what they are thinking," she said.
"Please do not give up hope. There is no reason to lose heart," she added. "Even if you are not political, politics will come to you."
When asked at a later news conference about the future of the NLD, Ms Suu Kyi said she had not founded it "just as a party".
"I did not found the National League for Democracy just as a party. I founded it as a movement for democracy, an organisation for change. As long as the people want democracy in Burma the organisation will exist."
"We are trying to achieve it as quickly as possible, but I do not know how long it will take to get democracy."
She also said she was willing to talk to Western nations about lifting sanctions on Burma, which she previously supported.
"If the people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider it," she said. "This is the time that Burma needs help."
The BBC is banned from reporting in Burma, but a correspondent in Rangoon says there was no obvious security presence around the NLD's offices, but government agents in plain clothes seemed to be competing with journalists to get the best pictures of faces in the crowd.
For now, the authorities are letting things run their course, but it is unclear how long this will last and how much will they tolerate, she adds.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | November 2010 | ['(AP via The Star)', '(BBC)'] |
American Jackass star Ryan Dunn dies in a high–speed accident on U.S. Route 322 in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania. | April and Phil Margera, parents of “Jackass” star Bam Margera say Ryan Dunn was like a son to them. They are devastated by his death.
"Jackass" star Ryan Dunn was killed early Monday morning when his Porsche flew over a guardrail in West Goshen, Pa., slammed into a tree and burst into flames, according to local police.
Dunn's passenger, 30-year-old Zachary Hartwell of West Chester, Pa., was also killed. Hartwell worked as a production assistant on the movie "Jackass Number Two" and starred in Bam Margera's movie "Minghags."
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Chester County Coroner's Office announced Tuesday that the cause of death for both Dunn and Hartwell was "Blunt and Thermal Trauma due to a motor vehicle accident. The nature of the deaths was listed as Accidental."
Dunn, 34, was identified by his tattoos, according to a witness who was on the scene when the bodies were pulled from the wreckage.
The one-car accident happened on Route 322 around 2:30 a.m., according to Officer Geiger with West Goshen police. The 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 shot through about 40 yards of trees before it hit the last one and exploded into flames, according to police. The police press release (.PDF) reads, "Preliminary investigation revealed that speed may have been a contributing factor to the accident."
Dunn was last seen at Barnaby's of America in West Chester in the hours before the accident.
"Ryan didn't appear drunk before he left," Barnaby's manager told NBC Philadelphia. That manager said Dunn left the bar around 2 a.m.
A toxicology report on Dunn and Hartwell is not due back for a few weeks, according to the coroner's office.
One of the last men to see Ryan Dunn alive speaks to NBC Philadelphia.
TMZ. com is also reporting Dunn was at the bar Sunday night:
One of the friends tells TMZ ... Dunn had 3 Miller Lites and 3 "girly shots" between 10:30 PM and 2:10 AM -- nearly a 4 hour span -- but he was "not too drunk to drive."
Bam Margera's mom April was the first to publicly confirm the reality TV star's death. In an interview with NBC Philadelphia, April says she learned of the accident after getting a call from WMMR's Preston and Steve radio show. She shared the news with the show after speaking with police.
"He's just the sweetest guy you'd ever want to know and he would do anything for you," April Margara said. April and her husband Phil teared up as they spoke about Dunn saying they considered him a son.
"I know the entire 'Jackass' family is devastated and all of West Chester is devastated," she said.
April Margara also said Dunn was a fast driver and that she told him to slow down "everyday" following a bad accident he was involved in more than a decade ago.
"He drove too fast and I yelled at him all the time about that," she said.
Dunn was known primarily for his dangerous antics and practical jokes in MTV's "Jackass" series and movies with his long-time friend Bam Margera. He is a member of the CKY Crew with Margera. Dunn also co-hosted a show on the G4 network called "Proving Ground."
Bam Margera, who is currently in Phoenix, Ariz., has not spoken publicly about Dunn's death. His parents say he's devastated by the news.
Dunn's friend and former co-star Johnny Knoxville tweeted this statement:
"Today I lost my brother Ryan Dunn. My heart goes out to his family and his beloved Angie. RIP Ryan, I love you buddy."
MTV also released this statement via Twitter regarding the death of Ryan Dunn:
"We're deeply saddened by the passing of a member of the MTV family, Ryan Dunn. Our hearts and thoughts are with his friends and family."
This picture was posted on Dunn's Tumblr about two hours before the accident took place. It has since been removed from his account. April Margera confirms that Dunn is pictured on the left and his passenger Zachary Hartwell is on the far right. The man in the center has yet to be identified.
These pictures were taken at the scene of the accident. (Credit: Eric Lewis)
The #RIPRyanDunn hashtag was blowing up on Twitter and Ryan Dunn was the top trending topic Monday morning as news of his death spread. Dunn's fans also began posting video responses to Dunn's death to YouTube. | Famous Person - Death | June 2011 | ['(NBC Philadelphia)'] |
Protests against the US immigration reform bill H.R. 4437 are held in several US cities. 500,000 people march in Los Angeles, 50,000 in Denver, and 20,000 in Phoenix, Arizona, protesting proposed legislation that includes construction of a security wall along the United States–Mexico border. | DENVER More than 50,000 people gathered downtown Denver Saturday as part of a national protest against a crackdown in immigration laws, surprising city police who had expected far fewer people.On a warm, spring day, with temperatures reaching 70 degrees, protesters came out to urge the state Senate to reject a resolution supporting a ballot issue that would deny many government services to illegal immigrants in Colorado. They also protested federal legislation aimed at criminalizing illegal immigrants and building more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. Police officers were expecting only a few thousand people at Civic Center Park next to the state Capitol and Denver city and county buildings, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson, who provided the crowd estimate. But the crowd, mostly made up of families and older people, was respectful and the four-hour rally ended without incident, he said. In downtown Los Angeles, an estimated 500,000 people marched Saturday in front of City Hall, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said. There were no arrests or reports of property damage. Speakers during the Denver rally ridiculed the Republican party, telling participants that "they're not on our side and they're pitting Americans against us." "This is the standing point of a new beginning," said protester Eli Chairez-Clendenin, 36, of Denver, who immigrated to Colorado in 1974. "We're not going to be intimidated or afraid to speak our mind. We're going to be who we are." The Senate on Tuesday will begin debating legislation that would make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally, impose new penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border. Lisa Duran, of Denver-based Rights for All People, called the federal proposal inhumane because it would make 1.6 million children felons and would kill more people who are trying to cross the border. In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush called for a proposal that does not force America to choose between being a welcoming society and a lawful one. "America is a nation of immigrants, and we're also a nation of laws," Bush said on the immigration issue that has driven a wedge into his party. He favors a bill allowing some immigrants stay in the country and work for a set period of time. Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, say national security concerns should drive immigration reform. Illegal immigrants want legislation that would protect illegal immigrants, unify their families, and would address future flows of immigrants, Duran said. For Arvada resident Elsa Rodriguez, a trained pilot who came to Colorado in 1999 from Mexico to look for work, she said she just wants to be considered equal. "We're like the ancestors who started this country, they came from other countries without documents, too," said Rodriguez, 30. "They call us lazy and dirty, but we just want to come to work. If you see, we have families, too." | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2006 | ['(CNN)', '(BBC)', '(CBS4Denver)', '(East Valley Tribune)'] |
156 people are detained in Egypt following clashes between police and Copts after authorities blocked construction of a church. | CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s attorney general ordered the detention of 156 protesters involved in clashes with riot police after the authorities blocked construction of a church in a Cairo suburb, the official news agency MENA said on Thursday.
One Christian was killed and dozens were wounded in Giza on Wednesday when about 3,000 Orthodox Copts hurled stones at police lines. Some officers threw them back and Muslims also lobbed rocks at the Christian protesters from behind the security cordon.
The attorney general decided to hold the 156 protesters for 15 days on suspicion of inciting the riots, MENA reported. It did not say whether they had been formally charged.
Some Christians demonstrated near the church and others near the Giza governor’s office on Wednesday. Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s 79 million people.
The Interior Ministry said at least 112 protesters had been detained in the Giza area, where the authorities had halted construction of the church although the Copts said they had an official permit.
Thirty lawyers tried to attend police questioning of 120 of the protestors late on Wednesday but were blocked from entering the public prosecutor’s office in Giza, a rights group said.
Five lawyers who later managed to enter the building were told by the general prosecutor that they could attend the questioning but could not consult privately with the accused, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said in a statement.
“The prosecutors denied the lawyers’ request to consult privately with the accused. They refused to put on record the lawyers’ arguments questioning the validity of the proceedings and they also refused to put on record the injuries sustained by some of the accused,” the group said.
Giza Governor Sayyed Abdel-Aziz said the Christians appeared to have misused a permit for a social center to build a church.
The Christians said they had the right permit and would continue to build the three-storey domed structure.
| Riot | November 2010 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Protests erupt in New York City after a grand jury decides not to indict any police officers in the death of Garner. | New York (CNN) -- Protesters poured onto the streets of New York late Wednesday, upset over a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the death of Eric Garner.
They marched at the same time U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that federal officials were moving ahead with a civil rights investigation.
Garner, an unarmed black man, died in July after a white officer, Daniel Pantaleo, put him in a chokehold. Garner's death was later ruled a homicide.
"This fight ain't over. It just begun. I'm determined to get justice for my husband because he shouldn't have been killed in that way. He shouldn't have been killed in any way," said Esaw Garner, his widow.
"He should be here, celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving and everything else, with his children and his grandchildren. And he can't. Why? Because a cop did wrong. Somebody that gets paid to do right did wrong and he's not held accountable for it. But my husband's death will not be in vain. As long as I have a breath in my body I will fight the fight till the end."
Protesters gathered at various points in Manhattan, including Times Square and Union Square, marching peacefully north as crowds formed near Rockefeller Center for the lighting of the Christmas tree. Columbus Circle was blocked for a time.
There were demonstrations in other cities too, including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Oakland, California.
"No Justice. No peace," protesters chanted in New York. "No racist police."
Garner's mother, who spoke alongside his widow, said she was disappointed by the grand jury's decision. She called for calm.
"We want you to rally, but rally in peace. Make a statement, but make it in peace," said Gwen Carr.
On New York City's West Side Highway, a group of protesters stood face to face with rows of police officers, shouting, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."
The protesters sat down on the road, crying out, "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now!"
"Ferguson is Everywhere," one demonstrator's sign read, referring to the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.
'I can't breathe'
During the fatal encounter July 17 on Staten Island, Garner raised both hands in the air and told the officers not to touch him. Seconds later, a video shows an officer behind Garner grab him in a chokehold and pull him to the sidewalk, rolling him onto his stomach. The New York City Police Department prohibits chokeholds.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Garner said repeatedly, his cries muffled into the pavement.
Garner, 43, was pronounced dead that day. Police had suspected Garner of selling cigarettes illegally.
The grand jury was made up of 14 white and nine nonwhite members, according to law enforcement sources. A total of 12 jurors who have heard all the evidence must be in agreement for a decision. The grand jury found that there was no "reasonable cause" to indict.
The case became emblematic of longstanding tensions between police and minority communities, especially given that the majority of people stopped under the former "stop-and-frisk" police policy were African-American or Hispanic.
A federal court ruled that stop-and-frisk was unconstitutional and tantamount to racial profiling.
The Garner death led to demonstrations around the city and came weeks before the racially charged police shooting of Brown, who was unarmed, in Ferguson.
'National moment of grief" President Barack Obama said the Garner case reflected a longtime "concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them, and dealing with them in a fair way."
"We are not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the trust, and a strengthening of the accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement," he said.
Standing outside the Staten Island store where his son was put into a fatal chokehold, Garner's father, Ben, told a crowd that he was hopeful about the federal investigation and urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
"We want justice for Eric," he said. "We ain't tearing up nothing. We ain't burning up nothing... The police is our problem. No violence. That is all I ask."
Mayor Bill de Blasio sought to allay tensions, saying that he had received assurances from Washington that the federal investigation of Garner's death would move forward "expeditiously and with a clear sense of independence."
De Blasio said the grand jury decision has created "a national moment of pain, a national moment of grief and searching for a solution."
Pantaleo, according to a statement from his union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said: "I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can't protect themselves. It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss."
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan Jr. said the grand jury conducted dozens of interviews with witnesses, including 22 civilians, and met between September 29 and December 3. An attorney for Pantaleo said his client testified for approximately two hours on November 21 in front of the grand jury.
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, called the decision "a miscarriage of justice" an "outrage" and a "disgrace."
"He was killed in plain sight for all of America to see because this was captured on video. And so it's inexplicable that this grand jury could not return a single charge," said Jeffries.
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said, "there are no winners" from the grand jury decision.
"It is clear that the officer's intention was to do nothing more than take Mr. Garner into custody as instructed and that he used the take-down technique that he learned in the academy when Mr. Garner refused," Lynch said. "No police officer starts a shift intending to take another human being's life and we are all saddened by this tragedy."
Brown and Garner
The grand jury's decision came on the same day that the New York Police Department, in an attempt to bolster public confidence, announced plans to start having some officers wear body cameras.
"When something happens, to have a video record of it, from the police officers' perspective, is going to help in many, many ways," de Blasio told reporters. "And God forbid, when something goes wrong, we are going to have a clearer understanding of what happened."
Parallels mark the deaths of Garner and Brown, both black, starting with crimes they were suspected of: Brown allegedly stole cigars from a convenience store; Garner was allegedly selling cigarettes tax-free.
Another similarity that has become the hallmark of protests in Ferguson: Garner put his hands up in the air, as the crook of Pantaleo's elbow tightened around his throat. Some eyewitnesses have said Brown also made that gesture in surrender. But other witnesses contradicted them.
No video was rolling, so doubts over that and other details will always hang over the moment that former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot the unarmed teen.
That has led Obama to call for law officers all over the country to record their operations with body cameras.
In Garner's case, there can be little doubt what happened.
Before he gasped what appeared to be his final breaths, someone hit record on a cell phone camera. The details of his takedown spread through the Internet as the video went viral.
Wilson and Pantaleo
In the Ferguson case, Wilson argued before the Missouri grand jury that he shot Brown -- who Wilson said tried to wrest away his gun and then charged at him -- in self-defense.
In the Staten Island cell phone video, Garner did not go after Pantaleo but had his back to him; the officer jumped him from behind then tackled him to the ground.
The New York Medical Examiner has ruled Garner's death a homicide. The cause of death was "compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police."
But the medical examiner also listed acute and chronic bronchial asthma, obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as contributing factors in Garner's death.
In Ferguson, Wilson went into hiding after death threats and kept his status of police officer but was placed on leave. He resigned shortly after the grand jury decision. After the chokehold, Pantaleo was put on modified assignment and stripped of his badge and gun amid the investigation, and the NYPD's commissioner ordered an extensive review of training procedures.
Two lawsuits have previously been filed against Pantaleo. The plaintiffs in both suits allege false arrest, unlawful imprisonment, civil rights violations and other charges.
One suit from 2013 was dismissed in January 2014, while the second, from February 2014, remains open.
Ferguson and New York
In both Ferguson and New York, mostly African-American protesters took to the streets for weeks after both men died to decry police violence.
Demonstrators in New York have called the police response during Garner's arrest excessive and criminal, but during protests, the contact between police and demonstrators has been largely cordial.
Missing were the tear gas canisters, assault rifles, armored vehicles and the lootings and flying bottles that marred the St. Louis suburb in the wake of Brown's death.
When the Missouri grand jury declined to charge Wilson, violence returned to Ferguson, as shot were fired, stores were looted and cars were set on fire.
CNN's Dana Ford, Catherine E. Shoichet, Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, Ben Brumfield, Daniel Verello and Leigh Remizowski contributed to this report. | Protest_Online Condemnation | December 2014 | ['(CNN)'] |
The Labour Party, led by Jacinda Ardern, surges in the polls and is neck-and-neck with the National Party, led by Bill English, for the race for Prime Minister of New Zealand. | Jacinda Ardern says in debate with PM she is taking nothing for granted after poll gives her party a two-point advantage
The New Zealand Labour party has continued its extraordinary surge under the month-old leadership of Jacinda Ardern, with a new poll putting its support at a 10-year high and for the first time ahead of the governing National party in campaigning for September’s general election.
Ardern took control of the party on 1 August with Labour at an all-time low in the polls and has almost single-handedly reignited its chances of forming the next government.
Labour’s projected share of the vote has risen from 26% to 43% since Ardern, 37, became the party’s youngest leader. Labour now stands two points ahead of the National party, led by the prime minister, Bill English. The election takes place on 23 September.
Ardern and English met in a leaders’ debate on Thursday in which English was asked in the opening question: “Bill, why are you losing?”
Ardern, whose charisma and rising popularity prompted domestic media to coin the term “Jacindamania”, told the moderator, Mike Hosking, that she was not taking anything for granted.
“I’m certainly not going to decide that it’s somehow a done deal right now,” she said of Labour’s poll lead. English and Hosking tussled over the poll and whether the prime minister could reveal another private polling number, which he claimed was better.
The debate between the two leaders was dominated by housing, tax and immigration. Ardern’s biggest challenge going into the debate was expected to be whether she could hold her own on economic issues alongside English, who is a former finance minister, as well as claims that Labour lacks clarity on future tax plans.Labour’s fiscal plan includes spending an additional $20bn (£11bn) over four years. Political analysts were divided over which of the party leaders came out on top. Grant Duncan, an associate professor of political theory and New Zealand politics at Massey University, called it a draw. “The moderator put more pressure on Jacinda compared with the challenges to Bill over his government’s performance, handing Bill the advantage,” he said.
The New Zealand Herald’s political editor, Audrey Young, favoured Ardern. “It was Bill English but not as we know him. He sounded as though he has been in a debating bootcamp for the past week, learning about gesticulation, intonation, brevity and how good it is to smile.
“It doesn’t come naturally to him. She [Ardern] looked relaxed and assured and won hands down on presentation.” English attacked what he called Labour’s “vague and confusing” policies and reiterated his party’s tax cut policies. “People can’t go shopping with your values … every person in New Zealand who does not have children will be worse off under Labour,” he said.
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Ardern attacked National’s record on housing, reiterating a Labour plan to build 10,000 houses a year. Home ownership rates in New Zealand have fallen to their lowest since 1951 and affordability is one of the greatest challenges, with prices increasing 34% in the last three years.English said affordability was better than it had been in 2008 due to low interest rates, to which Ardern replied: “Tell someone in Auckland that a $150,000 deposit is affordable.”
English asked whether Labour would tell meat workers why it would take $1,000 a year from them by cancelling tax cuts to make university “a bit cheaper for lawyers”. Ardern had announced on Tuesday that she would fast-track a Labour policy to phase in three years of free tertiary education.
Ardern said the money for Labour’s fiscal plan would come from cancelling tax cuts, paying off debt more slowly and cracking down on international tax avoidance. | Government Job change - Election | September 2017 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
A fire on the Russian Navy's Losharik submarine kills 14 crew members while the vessel conducts tests in Russian territorial waters. | Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country's defense chief to travel to a northern naval base to conduct a probe after a fire on what the Kremlin described as a deep-sea "research submersible" killed 14 crew members.
Putin on July 2 called the incident a "great loss" and told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to "personally receive reports," give tasks to investigators to "identify the causes behind this tragedy," and report back to him.
Putin's meeting with Shoigu came after the Defense Ministry said earlier in the day that 14 sailors were killed when a fire broke out on July 1 aboard a submersible that the ministry said was carrying out "research" work in Russian territorial waters.
It was one of the worst Russian naval disasters since 2000, when the Kursk nuclear-powered submarine sank following two explosions aboard the vessel, killing all 118 crew members aboard.
Russia's RBK news outlet quoted a military source as identifying the vessel in the latest incident as the Losharik AS-12 nuclear-powered submarine, although the Defense Ministry has not identified the type of vessel involved.
When the Losharik was launched in the early 2000s, details of the vessels were considered highly secret. One report said it was capable of diving 2,500 meters under the sea.
Russian media reported that the Losharik is carried under the hull of a mother submarine, the nuclear-powered Belgorod.
Russia in April launched the special-purpose Belgorod, which is believed capable of carrying nuclear-tipped underwater drones capable of threatening U.S. coastal cities.
The RBK report said the incident occurred in the evening hours of July 1.
Per Strand, a director at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, told Reuters that his agency had not seen any raised levels of radiation in the area of the submarine accident. He said Norwegian authorities had been told by their Russian counterparts that a "gas explosion" had occurred on board the vessel.
The Russian Defense Ministry later denied making any comment about a "gas explosion." The discrepancy was not immediately explained.
A Russian Defense Ministry statement said that the sailors died as a result of inhaling combustible fumes aboard the research vessel, which was conducting measurements on the floor of the ocean.
The report did not say how many crew members were aboard. It said the fire was put out by other crew members.
The submersible is now at a navy base in the northwestern city of Severomorsk near Murmansk on the Barents Sea, officials said.
An investigation has been launched, the ministry said.
AFP quoted a military expert speaking on condition of anonymity as doubting that the vessel was on a scientific research mission.
"Usually it's a cover for different type of work conducted on the seabed," like laying cables, the expert said.
Russia has suffered several deadly submarine incidents over the past two decades, as well as a rash of fires during decommissioning at ports.
In the deadliest submarine incident since the Kursk, 20 Russian sailors and shipyard workers died aboard the submarine K-152 Nerpa when the fire-extinguishing system accidentally activated, causing suffocation.
RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. | Fire | July 2019 | ['(Sky News)', '(RFERL)'] |
The United States Armed Forces destroy the Baghdad headquarters of Moqtada alSadr. The building had been evacuated by alSadr's forces. There were no casualties. | BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 10 — American forces said today that they had killed some three dozen militiamen loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric during two days of fighting that included the destruction of the cleric's Baghdad headquarters in the Sadr City slum district here. American armored vehicles bombarded the walls of the compound, which contains the offices of the cleric, Moktada al-Sadr, and a small mosque, witnesses said. The building had been evacuated and there were no casualties, witnesses said. | Armed Conflict | May 2004 | ['(NYT)'] |
All 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground are located alive after 17 days, though they have not yet been removed from the mine and remain trapped. | Thirty-three miners who have been trapped underground in a Chilean mine for the past 17 days are all alive, President Sebastian Pinera has said. Rescuers heard hammering noises when they sent a new probe into the mine.
When the probe came back it had a note tied to it saying: "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter."
The men were working at a depth of around 700m (2,300ft) at the San Jose mine, near the city of Copiapo, when the rock above them collapsed.
Until Sunday, there had been no word from the miners and hopes for their survival had all but faded.
But it could take several months to drill a rescue shaft large enough to rescue the men.
Mr Pinera was at the mine on Sunday when he announced the breakthrough. Brandishing the miners' note for TV cameras he hailed the news saying:
"It will take months to get them out. It will take time, but it doesn't matter how long it takes, to have a happy ending."
President Pinera said he had seen footage of the men waving at a camera inserted into their shelter through a small tube. "They got close to the camera and we could see their eyes, their joy," he said.
The miners are reported to be 4.5 miles (7km) inside the gold and copper mine and about 700m vertically underground.
They have been trapped since 5 August when the main access tunnel collapsed.
According to Reuters news agency, the authorities said the men are in a mine shaft shelter about the size of a small flat and have limited amounts of food.
Rescuers plan to send narrow plastic tubes down the borehole with food, hydration gels and communications equipment, including cameras and microphones.
However, the chief engineer in charge of the rescue operation, Andres Sougarret, has warned that it will take at least four months and more powerful digging equipment to reach the men.
"A shaft 66 cm (26 inches) in diameter will take at least 120 days," he said.
On Saturday relatives of the trapped men had accused the authorities of not doing enough to reach the men.
One of their complaints was that officials had so far insisted on using probes to locate the miners, rather than digging tunnels through which they could be rescued.
Many of the trapped men's relatives have been camped outside the mine since the tunnel collapse occurred. There were jubilant scenes as the news that contact had been made broke.
"We never, never lost faith. We knew they were there, and that they would be rescued," one relative, Eduardo Hurtado, said.
"For the first time, I'll be able to sleep peacefully," said the daughter of Mario Gomez, one of the trapped miners. | Mine Collapses | August 2010 | ['(AP via Google News)', '(BBC)', '(Reuters via France24)', '(Aljazeera)'] |
Over 100 people are killed in a series of attacks across Iraq, most of them in a twin suicide bombing at a Shiite funeral in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. | At least 60 people have been killed at a funeral in the mainly Shia Muslim Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
A tent where mourners were gathered was hit by two explosions, one of them a suicide car bomb.
A third explosion followed as police, ambulances and firefighters gathered at the scene, according to one report.
Officials reported that women and children were among the dead and that more than 120 people had been injured.
No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, which happened early on Saturday evening.
The explosions reportedly set the tents and nearby cars on fire, with eyewitnesses describing the scene as an "inferno".
"I saw several charred bodies on the ground and tents on fire and also burning cars. Wounded people were screaming in pain,'' says one of the mourners, Sheikh Sattar al-Fartousi.
Medics in nearby hospitals confirmed the scale of the casualties.
| Armed Conflict | September 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
The Canadian House of Commons approves a bill to make the lyrics in the country's national anthem gender neutral. The bill would change the words in O Canada from "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command." | OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian lawmakers voted on Wednesday to alter the country’s national anthem to make the lyrics gender neutral, a move that comes as the new Liberal government focuses on being more inclusive toward women.
The bill would change the English version of “O Canada” to remove the words “in all thy sons command” and replace them with “in all of us command.”
The changes, brought forward as a private member’s bill by a Liberal Party lawmaker, passed easily in the House of Commons, which is controlled by the Liberals. It now goes to the appointed Senate, which generally approves measures passed by the elected House.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made gender inclusivity a focus since he was elected last October and named an equal number of men and women to his 30-member Cabinet. It was the first time gender parity had been achieved by Canada’s team of ministers.
Status of Women Minister Patty Hajdu, speaking before the vote, said the change was an important step toward ensuring inclusivity in Canada’s cultural symbols.
“I think it’s really important as a very strong symbol of our commitment to gender equality in this country,” she told reporters.
Some Conservative lawmakers opposed the change, which they said was being made without adequate consultation with Canadians. The former Conservative government suggested changes to the anthem’s lyrics in 2010, but backed off after a public outcry.
The song was composed in 1880 and the original lyrics were in French. The English-language version, which is not a direct translation from French, was penned in 1908 and tweaked over the years. It was adopted as Canada’s official anthem in 1980.
After the vote passed, lawmakers stood in the House of Commons and sang the anthem in both national languages.
| Government Policy Changes | June 2016 | ['(Reuters)'] |
The death toll in China from Typhoon Soudelor rises to at least 22 people with more missing and millions without power. | The remnants of a devastating typhoon swept through eastern China on Sunday, leaving at least 22 people dead, homes destroyed and millions of people without power.
After lashing Taiwan and leaving at least five people dead and scores injured, Typhoon Soudelor hit Putian City in southeastern China's Fujian Province on Saturday night, and was downgraded into a tropical storm as it moved across the region.
China's official Xinhua news agency reported that power to more than two million homes was affected, according to State Grid Fujian Electric Power Co., Ltd.
The typhoon triggered mudslides in the mountainous Pingyang county in Zhejiang province, north of Fujian, killing nine people and leaving three others missing, Xinhua reported. More than 370,000 people were evacuated and around 32,000 boats were ordered back to port before the typhoon struck land, the AP said.
Typhoon Soudelor made landfall in Taiwan on Saturday, leaving at least five people dead and at least 185 injured. An 80-year-old man was found drowned in his home and a man was killed by a falling tree, the Taipei Times reported.
An 8-year-old girl, her twin sister and their mother were swept out to sea, a firefighter was killed and another was injured after being hit by a drunk driver as they tried to move a fallen tree, the AP reported. More than 4 million homes in Taiwan were left without power as a result of the typhoon, and more than 500 flights were canceled or delayed, the news agency added.
Three airports in Fujian Province were closed, and more than 530 flight canceled Sunday, Xinhua reported. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | August 2015 | ['(USA Today)'] |
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey passes a new social media regulation bill that requires foreign sites to appoint Turkish-based representatives to help monitor content, and will punish companies that don't comply with fines and throttling bandwidth. | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey adopted a new social media law on Wednesday that critics say will create a “chilling effect” on dissenting voices who have resorted to Twitter and other online platforms as the government tightened its grip on mainstream media.
The law was backed by President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party and its nationalist allies to make foreign social media sites more accountable. It requires them to appoint a local representative to address authorities’ concerns.
The law would allow Turkish authorities to remove content from platforms rather than blocking access as they have done in the past.
Companies including Facebook and YouTube that do not comply could have their bandwidth slashed by up to 90%, essentially blocking access, and face other penalties.
They must also store local users’ information in Turkey, raising concerns that a state that critics say has grown more authoritarian under Erdogan will gain easy access.
An estimated 90% of major media in Turkey comes under the ownership of the state or is close to the government.
Turks are already heavily policed on social media and the new regulations, especially if user data is vulnerable, will have a “chilling effect”, said Yaman Akdeniz, cyber rights expert and professor at Istanbul Bilgi University.
“This will lead to identifying dissenters, finding who is behind parody accounts and more people being tried. Or people will stop using these platforms when they realise this,” he said. “People in Turkey are already afraid to speak out.”
Erdogan has criticised social media and said a rise of “immoral acts” online was due to a lack of regulation. His AK Party says the law will not lead to censorship and that it aims to protect personal rights and data.
Ozgur Ozel, senior lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), called the law an “act of revenge”.
“Maybe you can silence us and opponents, but you cannot silence the youth,” he told parliament before the law passed at around 7 a.m. after an overnight debate.
Turkey was second globally in Twitter-related court orders in the first six months of 2019, according to the company, and it had the highest number of other legal demands from Twitter.
Akdeniz said social media companies would need to comply with every request from authorities including accessing user data and content removal that they currently do not accept.
Representatives of Twitter TWTR.N, Facebook FB.O and Alphabet's GOOGL.O YouTube were not immediately available to comment on the law. | Government Policy Changes | July 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
After a three-week trial, a 27-year-old New Zealand man is found guilty of murdering 22-year-old British tourist Grace Millane in Auckland in December 2018. | A man who strangled a British backpacker and hid her body inside a suitcase has been found guilty of murder. Grace Millane was found buried in bushland outside Auckland, New Zealand.
A jury at the city's high court rejected claims by the 27-year-old man, who cannot be named, that she died accidentally during "rough sex".
Ms Millane's parents David and Gillian wept in the public gallery as jurors convicted their daughter's killer.
He showed no emotion as the verdict - reached after about five hours of deliberations - was read out. Justice Simon Moore said the defendant would be sentenced on 21 February next year.
The identity of Grace Millane's murderer cannot be disclosed for now due to a court suppression order that bans media from naming and picturing him.
The purpose in New Zealand courts is to protect people not yet proven guilty - but also to have a fairer trial by ensuring the jury is not prejudiced by media coverage.
Images can also be withheld.
Justice Simon Moore ordered that the suppression order which prevents naming the defendant would remain in place indefinitely until lifted by the court.
Mr and Mrs Millane, who had flown to New Zealand to attend the trial, said the verdict would be "welcomed by every member of the family and friends of Grace".
Speaking outside the court, an emotional Mr Millane said the family's lives had been "ripped apart" by his daughter's "barbaric" murder.
"Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever," he said.
Jurors heard the defendant and Ms Millane had met via the Tinder dating app on 1 December last year, the night before Ms Millane's 22nd birthday. They spent several hours drinking cocktails in bars around Auckland before going to the defendant's hotel.
Ms Millane, from Wickford, Essex, was found in the mountainous Waitākere Ranges a week later.
Prosecutors said post-mortem examinations found bruises "consistent with restraint" on her body, and that she had been strangled.
On the night of her death, the court heard, the defendant "wasn't distressed or concerned by her death", and set about making plans to dispose of her remains.
He "sexualised" the killing by searching for pornography, stopping at one point to take lewd photos of her corpse, prosecutors said.
The following day, he went on a Tinder date with another woman while the body of Ms Millane remained in the hotel room.
He had bought a second suitcase in a bid to cover his tracks, as well as cleaning products and a shovel, jurors heard.
The defendant did not give evidence in his defence.
Following the verdict, the step-brother of the murderer spoke to television station TVNZ reporter Paul Hobbs.
The man, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, said he initially thought Miss Millane's death could have been an accident but when he saw the timeline of events, his view changed.
His step-brother, he said, was "a pathological liar that lies over pointless things and continues to lie until the point where he's got no out - absolutely no out - and then he just breaks down and cries and runs away.
"It's just absolutely terrible that a life had to be lost because of it."
He said he did not think his step-brother intended to kill Grace, but said: "In that moment he just kept going… and he took Grace's life."
In an interview with police, shown during the trial, the defendant was seen to break down in tears.
"His tears, to me, they're more tears for himself."
Apologising to the Millane family, he added: "I'm just so, so incredibly sorry for their loss. "To know it's one of our family members - even though it's not our actions - it's very difficult, and I can't imagine the pain and hurt and what [the Millane family] had to go through for a court hearing… to me that's all because he doesn't have any shred of a decent human being inside him, and couldn't just confess to the fact he murdered her."
Tinder said it was "deeply saddened" by the case and "its thoughts were with the victim's loved ones". A spokesperson added that it was not planning to review its policies in the light of the murder but said "the safety of our members is a top priority" and that they were exploring new updates and technologies to enhance its safety efforts around the world.
Ms Millane's death prompted an outpouring of public grief in New Zealand with the country's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern apologising to her family.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | November 2019 | ['(BBC)'] |
British businessman James McCormick, who sold ADE 651 fake bomb detector to Iraq and other countries, is jailed for ten years at the Old Bailey. | McCormick, 57, of Langport, Somerset perpetrated a "callous confidence trick", said the Old Bailey judge. He is thought to have made £50m from sales of more than 7,000 of the fake devices to countries, including Iraq.
The fraud "promoted a false sense of security" and contributed to death and injury, the judge said. He also described the profit as "outrageous".
Police earlier said the ADE-651 devices, modelled on a novelty golf ball finder, are still in use at some checkpoints.
Sentencing McCormick, Judge Richard Hone said: "You are the driving force and sole director behind [the fraud]." He added: "The device was useless, the profit outrageous, and your culpability as a fraudster has to be considered to be of the highest order." One invoice showed sales of £38m over three years to Iraq, the judge said.
The bogus devices were also sold in other countries, including Georgia, Romania, Niger, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
Prosecuting QC Richard Whittam said the justice and foreign affairs ministries in Baghdad were hit by truck bombs - which drove through the checkpoints where the useless devices were operated.
The prosecution said the "inescapable conclusion" was that Iraqis died because of their use.
Defence QC Jonathan Laidlaw said other devices had also been used at checkpoints and there was no proof that his client's had cost lives.
"We would need real evidence that a bomb detonated in the green zone (of Baghdad) had failed to be detected by the ADE, to meet a criminal standard of proof," he said. Detective Superintendent Nigel Rock, of Avon and Somerset Police, said that soldiers, police, border guards, and hotel security staff had all trusted the devices.
Reiterating the judge's comments from inside court, Mr Rock said: "McCormick's profits were obscene, and fed his greedy and extravagant lifestyle. "And finally, and perhaps most importantly, he has shown no shame, he has shown no remorse, and he carried on with complete cavalier disregard for the consequences of his con-trick."
He said the next stage was to ensure that the "extravagant lifestyle is taken away" from McCormick, saying Iraqi authorities will now be "pursuing compensation through the civil court process in this country".
During the trial, the court was told the detectors, which cost up to $40,000 (£27,000) each, were completely ineffectual and lacked any grounding in science.
McCormick bought novelty "golf ball detectors" which were little more than radio aerials from the US for less than $20 each, before selling them as bomb detectors for $5,000 each.
He then made a more advanced-looking version which he was to sell for for tens of thousands of dollars each. Police say the only genuine part of the kit - and the most expensive - was the carrying case.
McCormick had claimed the devices could bypass "all forms of concealment", detecting drugs and people, as well as explosives, the court had heard.
He said in court that he "never had any negative results from customers".
BBC Two's Newsnight programme conducted an investigation into the devices sold by McCormick's company, resulting in a UK government ban on their sale in Iraq and Afghanistan in January 2010.
A whistleblower told the programme he had confronted McCormick, saying he did not want to be any part of the business if the devices did not work.
McCormick is said to have responded: "It does exactly what it's designed to. It makes money."
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | May 2013 | ['(BBC)'] |
Former Iraqi minister Ali Hassan al–Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, is sentenced to death for the Halabja poison gas attack. | Ali Hassan al-Majid, a former Iraqi official known as Chemical Ali, has been sentenced to death for ordering the gassing of Kurds.
It is the fourth time that Majid, an enforcer in Saddam Hussein's regime, has been sentenced to death. He has also been convicted of the killings of Shia Muslims in 1991 and 1999 and for his role in a campaign of genocide against Kurds in the 1980s. His latest sentence is for a gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988. It is believed that 5,000 people died in the attack, most of them women and children. Iraqi jets swooped over Halabja and for five hours sprayed it with a lethal cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents Tabun, Sarin and VX. Majid was a cousin of Saddam Hussein, and earned his nickname after his use of poison gas. The Al-Iraqiya channel said Majid would be killed by hanging. The Iraqi High Tribunal also sentenced former defence minister Sultan Hashem to 15 years in prison for the Halabja attack, a court official said, quoted by Reuters. The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says that for Kurds, Halabja is the single most traumatic atrocity they suffered during Saddam Hussein's long campaign against them in the 1980s and they had wanted Majid to face justice for it. It is believed Iraqi authorities will now want Majid executed without delay. However, he does have the right of appeal, our correspondent adds. Majid was captured in August 2003, five months after US forces invaded Iraq. He was sentenced to hang in June 2007 for his role in a military campaign against ethnic Kurds, codenamed Anfal, that lasted from February to August of 1988. In December 2008 he also received a death sentence for his role in crushing a Shia revolt after the 1991 Gulf War. In March 2009 he was sentenced to death, along with others, for the 1999 killings of Shia Muslims in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. The Iraqi High Tribunal was set up to try former members of Saddam Hussein's mainly Sunni government and was the same one that sentenced the former president to death. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
At an inquest into the death of UN worker Iain Hook, Paul Wolstenholme, a United Nations worker in Jenin claims that moments after Iain Hook was shot by a mysterious sniper rifle–shot to the pelvis, an Israeli sniper rifle laser was pointed at his head. He also supplied documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital. | Paul Wolstenholme's written evidence said he was in the compound at the time of the shooting and a sniper's red laser beam fell on him.
Det Supt Roy Lambert showed pictures to the inquest which he said indicated the sniper knew he was shooting into the UN compound at Jenin and had a clear view.
Iain Hook, 54, of Felixstowe, Suffolk, died as he tried to negotiate the rescue of his colleagues inside the West Bank refugee camp in Jenin, where he had been working for six weeks.
Mr Hook and fellow workers were trapped in the compound for several hours in November 2002 after Israeli defence forces entered Jenin.
'Death inevitable'
Palestinian gunmen fired at the troops and the UN office was hit by a hail of bullets in the resulting gun battle.
Home Office pathologist Dr Michael Heath told the inquest that Mr Hook had been hit with a bullet fired from a medium to high velocity weapon. It had shattered his pelvis.
He said the wound was so serious that "death was inevitable".
Several witnesses are expected to bring evidence to the inquest including Clare Short, the former cabinet minister responsible for overseas development.
Mr Wolstenholme could not attend the inquest but submitted documentary evidence which stated that the Israeli army had delayed an ambulance which was sent to take the wounded Mr Hook to hospital.
If the incident was not fully investigated then it would have become 'open season' on shooting United Nations staff
Paul Wolstenholme
His statement said that he had sent a letter to Ms Short expressing his concern about the delayed ambulance and that the Israeli special forces had not given a full account of themselves.
Mr Wolstenholme said if the incident was not fully investigated then it would have become "open season" on shooting United Nations staff.
Former soldier Iain Hook had been involved in several relief projects in East Timor, Afghanistan and Serbia.
His former employer John Adlam paid tribute to his work in rebuilding a hospital in Pristina, capital of the Serbian province of Kosovo, in 1999. | Famous Person - Death | December 2005 | ['(BBC)'] |
Voters in Morocco go to the polls for a general election with the ruling Justice and Development Party winning the most seats. , | The Islamist party which has led the coalition government since the Arab Spring protests in 2011 has won the country's parliamentary elections. Participation was relatively low at 43 percent.
Moroccans are heading to the polls to vote for a new parliament, five years after an Islamist-led government came to power. While liberals hope to reverse religious reforms, real power still rests with the king. (07.10.2016)
Students in Morocco have already over a week in the classroom, but curriculum changes mean they still don't have religious studies textbooks. The issue has been subject to much debate in the country. (06.10.2016)
Moroccan police officers' helmets are now fitted with video cameras. The state wants to use them to fight corruption. Yet the measure is not being welcomed by all. (18.09.2016)
Morocco's ruling Islamists have won the country's parliamentary elections, official results showed Saturday. Some 43 percent of the North African kingdom's 15.7 million eligible voters cast their ballots in Friday's parliamentary vote, which was only the second election since constitutional reforms were instated to quell the street protests that erupted during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
The moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) won 125 of the 395 seats in the Chamber of Representatives, whereas the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) came second with 102 seats, according to the country's Interior Ministry.
The conservative Istiqlal (Independence) Party has come in third with 31 seats, Interior Minister Mohammed Hassad told reporters. This means no party will win a clear majority, setting the stage for a ruling coalition.
So far, the PJD's signature achievement is the passage of a controversial reform of the retirement system while following a relatively liberal economic policy.
"Today democracy won," Prime Minister Benkirane said as the results started to come in. "After leading the government for five years, after implementing reforms, after its achievements, after carefully managing the budget and reforms with the retirement fund ... after widening health care coverage, after all of this - thanks be to God - today, the Moroccan people have given the PJD a victory."
Islamists gaining strength?
Some parties have fielded ultra-conservative Salafists, in a sign that Islamists are becoming a feature of Moroccan politics.
The PAM poured enormous resources into a campaign criticizing the government's economic record as "catastrophic" and pledged to roll back the "Islamization" of society and legalize cannabis.
The government said the vote was fair, though there have been allegations of irregularities from all sides. PAM spokesman Khalid Adennoun told reporters his party had filed "50 complaints" of voting irregularities in the port city of Tangiers.
Local media also reported a violent incident in which an Islamist candidate was attacked and wounded outside a polling station in the capital, Rabat.
The religious PJD came to power in 2011, months after massive street protests prompted concessions from Morocco's monarchy. A new constitution transferred some of the king's powers to the elected parliament, at a time when autocratic regimes were falling in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane's PJD won the 2011 election, and he was appointed premier by the king. In five years, he has pushed economic reforms to reduce the deficit and tackle subsidies | Government Job change - Election | October 2016 | ['(AP)', '(Deutsche Welle)'] |
Michael Phelps and Gabrielle Douglas are named as 2012 Associated Press Athletes of the Year. | Michael Phelps has added another triumph to his list of accomplishments: the Associated Press male athlete of the year.
The retired swimmer edged the Miami Heat’s LeBron James in voting announced Thursday, a fitting payoff for winning four gold medals and two silver medals at the London Games, as well as recognition for becoming the most decorated Olympian ever.
Phelps finished with 40 votes in the media balloting, winning the award for the second time. James had 37, followed by track star Usain Bolt with 23. Carl Lewis is the only other Olympic-related star to capture AP male athlete of the year more than once, taking the award in 1983 and ’84 for track and field. The only men honored more than twice are golf’s Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong and basketball’s Michael Jordan.
ETC.
Utah State promotes Wells
Utah State promoted offensive coordinator Matt Wells to head coach, replacing Wisconsin-bound Gary Andersen.
Andersen took the Wisconsin job Thursday, taking over for Bret Bielema. Bielema left to take the Arkansas job.
Utah State President Stan Albrecht and Athletic Director Scott Barnes said hiring the 39-year-old Wells allows the football program to continue to build on the tremendous progress made by Andersen over the last four years.
The 48-year-old Andersen just completed his fourth and best season at Utah State. The Aggies were 11-2, won the Western Athletic Conference and defeated Toledo on Saturday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
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A person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press that the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a four-year, $52-million contract with right-hander Edwin Jackson.
The person spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
The Cubs will be the eighth team in 11 years for the 29-year-old Jackson. He is 70-71 lifetime with a 4.40 earned-run average. He was 10-11 with a 4.03 ERA for Washington last season.
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Former All-Star third baseman Placido Polanco agreed to a $2.75-million, one-year contract with the Miami Marlins, plugging the final hole in the team’s projected lineup following a payroll purge.
The 37-year-old Polanco, who can earn an additional $250,000 in performance bonuses, battled injuries this year and batted .257 with two home runs and 19 RBIs in 90 games with the Philadelphia Phillies. The 15-year veteran is a career .299 hitter.
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Just when Josh Howard appeared to be carving an important niche in the NBA for himself again after battling back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the 32-year-old forward is right back where he started.
The Timberwolves waived him Thursday after an MRI exam revealed a torn ACL in Howard’s right knee. He was injured Dec. 14 at New Orleans.
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U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst was elected to a second term.
Probst, also the chairman at Electronic Arts, took over for Peter Ueberroth in 2008 during a period of turmoil for the USOC.
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Prized prospect Jabari Parker of Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy, one of the most highly touted basketball recruits in years, is headed to Duke.
Parker can’t sign his letter of intent until April 17, but he made his intentions clear with his highly anticipated commitment.
| Awards ceremony | December 2012 | ['(Los Angeles Times)', '(BoxScore)'] |
In Uganda, thousands of Muslims demonstrate in the capital Kampala against the Domestic Relations Bill that would, among other things, limit polygamy. (New Vision, Uganda), , , | THOUSANDS of Muslims marched through Kampala city yesterday and declared a jihad (holy war) against the Domestic Relations Bill (DRB) 2003, which is yet to be enacted into law.
The demonstrators particularly opposed the clause restricting polygamy.
Deafening chants of Allah Akbar! (God is great) echoed through the busy streets mid-morning as men, women clad in veils and children headed to Parliament where they presented a memorandum to deputy Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
“This is a war.We have to use all means to enjoy our freedom of worship,” Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly chief Abbass Kiyimba said.
Kiyimba told Kadaga that Muslims, who were peace-loving, opposed the Bill because it was against the Quran and makes Muslims outlaws.
Waving four-fingers, the men shouted: “Twagala kuwaasa banna” (We want to marry four wives).
The women also flashed four-fingers and said, Mutuleke batuwasse (let them marry us).
Their banners read: “The DRB is contradicting Islam,” “Muslims not party to the DRB,” “Don’t force us into terrorism.” “The Quran is the Constitution of Allah” and “Muslims should enjoy freedom of worship.”
The Bill, up for debate in Parliament this week, bans bride price and dowry, promotes cohabitation and requires a divorcing couple to share equally property acquired in marriage.
The demonstrators camped at Parliament gate as Imam Kasozi preached to them. He said, “Cohabitation is zina (adultery) in Islam. We cannot tolerate such provisions as in the DRB. We shall continue to fight for our freedom of worship.”
In the statement to Kadaga, Mufti Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje said Muslims were not interested in the improvement of the Bill but wanted to be excluded from it. He said attempts by Muslims to express their concerns had failed.
“It is neither possible nor necessary to improve the DRB to the Muslims’ satisfaction. Therefore, we pray that we be excluded from the application of this law,” Mubajje said. The statement was read by Haji Edris Kasenene.
Mubajje said the DRB intended to destroy the sanctity of marriage as envisaged in Islam and to turn Muslims into outlaws. He said it could provoke religious disharmony.
“The Muslims are an important minority and their rights should be respected,” said Mubajje.
Kadaga said Parliament would handle the Bill with the “utmost sensitivity.” But Kiyimba said Muslims would take nothing less than exclusion from the Bill. He said if violence broke over the law, the lawmakers would take the blame. | Protest_Online Condemnation | March 2005 | ['(AllAfrica)', '(BBC)'] |
The National Weather Service confirms 13 tornadoes occurred. | Recovery efforts continue Wednesday in Tennessee after a powerful and fast-moving storm cut across Middle Tennessee in the early hours of Tuesday morning, dropping tornadoes that roared up to 165 mph. At least two dozen are confirmed dead, including five children under the age of 13.
On Wednesday night, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said 24 storm-related deaths were confirmed. Earlier in the day, police in Wilson County confirmed an adult male was found dead in an area reeling from storm damage, which would increase the death toll to 25.
The overnight disaster injured scores of people and damaged or destroyed homes, businesses, schools and churches across four counties. Tens of thousands of people and businesses remained without power Wednesday.
Among the dead are at least five children in Putnam County, which suffered the greatest human toll. At least 18 people died in the county and 88 were injured – two of whom were flown out – in a 2-mile stretch west of Cookeville. Another 3 are still missing.
"We're thankful for the sun shining today and we're anxious to move this along and for our community to bounce back," said Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton in a Wednesday press conference. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | March 2020 | ['(USA Today)'] |
Patients are evacuated from St John's Regional Medical Centre in Joplin due to damage caused by the tornado. | St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin is being fully evacuated, after the hospital was directly hit by a tornado Sunday afternoon, said Cora Scott, spokeswoman for St. John’s Health System in Springfield.
“We are not sure of the safety of the building,” Scott said.
Damage to the building is extensive, as its windows were blown out and its roof was taken off, she said.
Scott said patients from Joplin will be accommodated in St. John’s facilities in Springfield and surrounding area.
She said she is trying to get the number of affected patients tonight.
Scott said she had no information on a reported gas leak near the Joplin hospital.
The Joplin Globe reported online on Sunday night that emergency personnel were evacuating people near the medical center because of dangers posed by a broken gas main.
The Globe reported that buildings directly to the north and directly to the west of the hospital have been leveled.
Scott said St. John’s hospital in Springfield is deploying ambulances and helicopters to Joplin tonight after sending emergency medical services to the ground.
“We do have medical resources in Joplin,” Scott said.
CoxHealth dispatched five EMS crews to Joplin, shortly after the tornado hit, said Laurie Duff, spokeswoman for CoxHealth.
Each crew has two people.
The hospital is at standby to receive patients, but road closures has complicated transportation, Duff said. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | May 2011 | ['(News-Leader)'] |
The Australian Parliament passes a law which makes it illegal for Internet platforms and service providers to host videos of "abhorrent violent conduct" without "expeditiously" removing them. | Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies’ concerns
Last modified on Thu 4 Apr 2019 19.00 BST
The Australian parliament has passed legislation to crack down on violent videos on social media, despite furious reaction from the tech industry, media companies and legal experts.
The Labor opposition combined with the ruling Liberal-National Coalition to pass the law on Thursday, despite warning it won’t allow prosecution of social media executives as promised by the government. Tech giants expressed the opposite concern that it may criminalise anyone in their companies for a failure to remove violent material.
The bill, described the attorney general, Christian Porter, as “most likely a world first”, was drafted in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack, when video of the alleged perpetrator’s violent attack spread on social media faster than it could be removed.
On Thursday Porter said Facebook and Twitter “should not be playing footage of murder”, in the same way that commercial television stations would not show it.
“There are platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook who do not seem to take their responsibility to not show the most abhorrently violent material seriously,” he told reporters in Canberra.
The Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material bill creates new offences for content service providers and hosting services that fail to notify the Australian federal police about or fail to expeditiously remove videos depicting “abhorrent violent conduct”. That conduct is defined as videos depicting terrorist acts, murders, attempted murders, torture, rape or kidnap.
The bill creates a regime for the eSafety Commissioner to notify social media companies that they are deemed to be aware they are hosting abhorrent violent material, triggering an obligation to take it down.
Porter said a “reasonable” or “expeditious” timeframe would depend on the circumstances and be up to a jury to decide, but “every Australian would agree it was totally unreasonable that it should exist on their site for well over an hour without them taking any action whatsoever”.
“This law would prevent that and criminalise that and offer the government an ability to respond where an organisation like Facebook let something livestream and play for a long time on their platform.”
The Digital Industry Group, which represents Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Verizon Media in Australia, has warned the bill was passed without meaningful consultation and threatens penalties against tech companies for content created by users.
Labor has promised to review the legislation if it is elected in May, adding to a list of national security laws it will have to revisit in government after supporting in opposition, including the encryption bill which it has promised to amend.
The group’s managing director, Sunita Bose, said members worked to take down abhorrent conduct “as quickly as possible”, but “with the vast volumes of content uploaded to the internet every second, this is a highly complex problem”.
“This ‘pass it now, change it later’ approach to legislation, such as we saw with the encryption law, creates immediate uncertainty for Australia’s technology industry,” she said.
“It threatens employees within any company that has user-generated content to be potentially jailed for the misuse of their services – even if they are unaware of it.
The chief executive of Atlassian, Scott Farquhar, said that no one wanted abhorrent violent material on the internet but “the legislation is flawed and will unnecessarily cost jobs and damage our tech industry”.
“The current legislation means that anyone working for a company that allows user generated content could potentially go to jail for [three] years,” he said.
“As written, that applies to news sites, social media sites, dating sites, job sites – anywhere user content could be created.”
Farquhar complained that the legislation failed to define how “expeditiously” violent material must be removed, and did not define who in a social media company could be punished.
If the material in question is uploaded and you don’t take it down “expeditiously”, you can go to jail. What is expeditiously? Not defined! “Who” in a company? Not defined!
Corporate penalties range up to $10.5m or 10% of annual turnover, but Labor believes these provisions fail to pierce the corporate veil and punish executives for the actions of others in the company.
Penalties for individuals who “provide a hosting service” and fail to remove material can be up to three years imprisonment or a $2.1m fine, or both.
On Monday Labor warned these penalties would not apply to executives of social media companies because giants such as Facebook and Twitter – not the individuals themselves – provide the service.
Porter responded to those concerns on Thursday by noting the government had received advice that some services such as 4Chan and 8Chan had “individuals who were responsible for those platforms”, who could be charged.
“Even with respect to larger platforms such as Facebook, such as YouTube, there could well be instances where an individual is so complicit with the reckless availability of abhorrent violent material that they would be individually liable.”
The Law Council of Australia president, Arthur Moses, said criminalising social media companies and executives was a “serious step” and should not be legislated as a “knee-jerk reaction to a tragic event” because of the potential for unintended consequences.
A spokeswoman for News Corp Australia said making digital platforms liable for what they made available to the world was overdue, but the bill went beyond this.
“While we have worked with the government to try to minimise the impact, this law risks criminalising news reporting and provides significant powers to the eSafety Commissioner to take down news content,” she said.
The bill includes defences for public interest journalism. But the chief executive of the Media Entertaining and Arts Alliance, Paul Murphy, said it had “concerns that the legislation is being rushed in such a complex area without proper consideration to ensure it does not impinge on media freedom”.
| Government Policy Changes | April 2019 | ['(The Guardian)'] |
Thirty–two thousand people in the US city of Colorado Springs flee from the Waldo Canyon Fire that has destroyed hundreds of homes. | A massive wildfire has swept through a residential area of Colorado's second most populous city, destroying homes and prompting 32,000 people to flee to safety.
The fire, which began in Waldo Canyon on Saturday, exploded into the Colorado Springs community of Mountain Shadows on Tuesday and set ablaze the mountains that rim the city 100 kilometres south of the state capital, Denver.
Replay
"This is a firestorm of epic proportions," Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown told a news conference late on Tuesday, before the fire surged again overnight.
Among the areas threatened was the US Air Force Academy, which evacuated two housing areas, a day before the scheduled arrival of 1000 new cadets, the academy said.
Fire reaches houses in the Mountain Shadows area of Colorado Springs.
Soaring temperatures compounded the agony for firefighters trying to contain the 2400 hectare blaze, one of many raging across the American west.
The Waldo Canyon fire has spread quickly since it began on Saturday, and turbulent winds on Tuesday afternoon prompted authorities to seek evacuations of up to 32,000 residents.
There were no reports of anyone killed or wounded in the fire, which is just five per cent contained.
Officials declined to estimate the number of homes destroyed, but feared the figure would be high.
Fire from the Waldo Canyon wildfire destroyed homes in Colorado Springs.Record high temperatures, extremely low humidity and wind gusts of up to 96.54 km/h have fuelled blazes across the American West.
The state of Utah also is combating a major fire, which burned through more than 2428 hectares of grassland in an area about 45 minutes south of Salt Lake City. | Fire | June 2012 | ['(AFP via The Age)', '(MSNBC)'] |
In golf, Tiger Woods announces that he underwent back surgery for a pinched nerve, and will miss the Masters for the first time in his professional career. | Tiger Woods will miss the Masters after undergoing back surgery earlier this week for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months, the world's No. 1 player said Tuesday on his website.
It will be the first time in 20 years that Woods will not play in the event.
The microdiscectomy was performed Monday by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Rich in Park City, Utah. The statement said Woods will begin "intensive rehabilitation and soft-tissue treatment" within a week, and the goal is for him to return to competition "sometime this summer."
"After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done," the 38-year-old Woods said in the statement.
"I'd like to express my disappointment to the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I will not be at the Masters. It's a week that's very special to me. It also looks like I'll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy."
It is not yet clear whether Woods will return in time for the U.S. Open (at Pinehurst No. 2 on June 12-15) or the Open Championship (at Royal Liverpool on July 17-20).
"It's tough right now, but I'm absolutely optimistic about the future," Woods said in the statement. "There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I've said many times, Sam [Snead] and Jack [Nicklaus] reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine."
ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell said that "there is a very good return rate following this type of procedure."
"Dr. (Robert) Watkins, who is known for treating many athlete for spine conditions out in Los Angeles, actually published a study where they looked at 80 professional athletes, across all sports including golfers -- 90 percent (were) able to return to their prior level of sport."
Bell estimated that the average recovery time for surgery like Woods had is 4 1/2 months.
"Tiger was gracious in keeping us updated of his condition and making us aware of his decision," Masters chairman Billy Payne said in a statement. "We wholeheartedly offered our best wishes for his immediate and long-term recovery. ... He is one of our most decorated champions and we look forward to his healthy return in 2015 and beyond."
Woods has been suffering from back spasms that were an issue during competition last fall and resurfaced again last month at the Honda Classic, where he withdrew during the final round.
He played the following week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he acknowledged that his back bothered him during the tournament and especially during the final round, in which he shot 78 -- his highest final-round score as a pro.
On March 18, two days prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods announced on his website that he would not play in that tournament, which he has won eight times, as his back problems had yet to subside.
On March 24, Woods said it was "too soon" to make a call on the Masters and that "was the frustrating thing about this."
Woods has played in every Masters since 1995, when he was an amateur. The following year, he missed his only cut at Augusta National just a few months prior to turning pro.
In 1997, in his first major championship as a pro, Woods won the Masters by a record 12 shots, the first of his 14 major titles. He went on to win the Masters in 2001, '02 (only the fourth to defend his title at Augusta National) and '05.
Woods is still four majors shy in his quest to tie Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles. Only two players have won four or more majors after their 38th birthday -- Ben Hogan (5) and Nicklaus (4).
Since his last victory at Augusta, Woods has seven top-10 finishes in eight appearances and six top-5s, including last year, when he tied for fourth, four strokes behind winner Adam Scott.
As recently as a few months ago, Woods was very much anticipating this year's major championship venues. He has won six of his 14 majors on this year's tournament courses -- four at Augusta, one each at Royal Liverpool and Valhalla -- and has top-3 finishes in the two U.S. Opens played at Pinehurst.
"I've won at every one except Pinehurst," Woods said at his World Challenge event in December. "And I'm trending in the right way. I've finished second, third ... you get the picture, right? OK. So I'm looking forward to the major championships. They have set up well for me over the years, and I look forward to it."
That week, Woods lost in a playoff to Zach Johnson and has not been the same since. After a six-week break, Woods returned in January at Torrey Pines, a venue where he had won eight times, shot a third-round 79, missed the secondary cut and tied for 80th.
The following week, he tied for 41st in Dubai, his worst showing in that tournament.
After three weeks off, Woods returned to the PGA Tour at the Honda Classic and seemingly had no back issues until prior to the final round, after a third-round 65. He withdrew after 13 holes on Sunday.
Following a few days of rest and rehab, he managed to get into contention at Doral despite an opening-round 76. After a third-round 66, he again was limited by back problems.
The Masters begins April 10, and this will complete a different kind of slam for Woods. He now will have missed all four majors as a pro due to injury. | Famous Person - Sick | April 2014 | ['(ESPN)'] |
American twins Bob and Mike Bryan win their fifth US Open men's doubles title, giving them 100 ATP World Tour titles as a team. | NEW YORK -- For their 100th tournament title, the Bryan brothers broke out a new victory celebration.
Not that they planned it this way. The twins were so excited to win their first Grand Slam championship in more than a year that they botched their signature chest bump at Sunday's U.S. Open final.
Mike wound up leaping into Bob's arms after they beat 11th-seeded Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3, 6-4.
"I don't think we have ever done this kind of 'Dirty Dancing' swan dive," said Mike, who faulted his brother for not lifting off. "That was a first."
"You felt light as a feather," Bob teased him.
Nothing was going to faze them after they tied a record with their fifth U.S. Open men's doubles title. Richard Sears and James Dwight also won five -- way back in the 1880s.
The Bryans now own the Open era mark, moving ahead of Bob Lutz and Stan Smith. It's also the brothers' 16th major championship, extending their record.
"I was having flashbacks to my whole career towards the end of that match," Bob said. "It was wild. I was thinking juniors, college."
They played their first tournament at age 6 in Agoura Hills, California, when they met in the novice singles final and won the doubles. The trophies have piled up since: NCAA championships, Olympic gold medals.
But the top-ranked Bryans hadn't celebrated one of these Grand Slam titles since 2013 Wimbledon, an eternity by their standards. They were in danger of finishing a year without a major championship for the first time since 2004.
Back at their home Grand Slam event, the 36-year-old Americans ended the drought.
Asked if they believed in karma, Mike joked, "We pick up trash when we see litter on the street."
After tough three-set victories in their past two matches, they controlled play against Granollers and Lopez, who beat them in the French Open quarters en route to the Spaniards' first Grand Slam final.
"It was kind of our best match of the tournament against a really tough team that posed a lot of challenges," Mike said.
About the only thing that went wrong Sunday was during their post-match news conference, when Mike tried to beckon to Bob's 2-year-old daughter Micaela to join them on the podium. She took a few hesitant steps forward then burst into tears while her little brother, Bobby Jr., babbled away.
Their dad and uncle have long said they plan to play through the 2016 Olympics, though they won't promise they'll retire then.
"No exit strategy," Mike said.
They already owned by far the most tournament titles of the Open era, which started in 1968. Now they've achieved a nice round number.
"It's always sweet winning a Grand Slam," Mike said. "This just adds some extra whip cream and cherries and nuts on top." | Sports Competition | September 2014 | ['(AP via ESPN)'] |
The storm spreads to Egypt with some Cairo suburbs seeing snowfall. Local news reports claimed it was the capital's first snowfall in 112 years. Night temperatures are expected to drop as low as 2°C / 36°F. | Temperatures currently range between 5 and 11 degrees Celsius (41-52 degrees Fahrenheit) in Cairo, and are expected to sink to around 2-3 degrees Celsius (36-37 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday night.
Residents of upscale developments on the outskirts of Cairo, including Madinaty to the east of the capital, reported snowfall on Friday morning.
Cairo has also seen heavy rain and sleet, which are expected to continue for the rest of the day in the capital and in a number of other governorates.
The state’s highest summit, St. Catherine in Sinai, will record sub-zero temperatures of -2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.
Both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea were hit by high winds of between 25-30 knots per hour, the authority stated.
Egyptians took to social media in droves to comment on the cold weather, with many claiming the winter has been the coldest on record for over a hundred years. However, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority has denied the claim. | Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | December 2013 | ['(The Daily Star)', '(Huffington Post)', '(Al-Ahram)'] |
Seven people were killed and 26 injured in a bike bombing at a market in Mokha, Yemen. Houthis were blamed for the attack. | DUBAI (AFP) - A bomb attack in a market killed seven Yemeni civilians, including a photographer for a UAE television channel, in the government-controlled town of Mokha, medics and military sources said on Tuesday (Jan 29).
At least 20 people were wounded in the overnight blast in the Red Sea town, where pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthi rebels are based.
The improvised explosive device was planted on a motorcycle parked in the middle of the market, an official in the pro-government forces told AFP.
Seven people were killed, the official and a hospital source said.
A photographer for Abu Dhabi TV, Mr Ziad al-Sharabi, was among the dead, the official Saba news agency quoted Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani as saying.
A correspondent for the same network, Mr Faisal Al-Zabhani, was among the wounded, he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Saba blamed it on the Iran-aligned Houthis.
The city of Mokha has enjoyed relative calm since coalition-backed government forces seized it from the rebels in July 2017.
Yemen's war escalated in March 2015, when President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia and the coalition intervened.
Since then, the conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people and unleashed the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
UN aid officials say 80 per cent of the population - 24 million people - are in need of aid and nearly 10 million are just one step away from famine. | Armed Conflict | January 2019 | ['(The Straits Times)'] |
Environmental activists of the Extinction Rebellion movement in England gather around several printing presses used by the Rupert Murdoch-owned publishing company News Corp in the towns of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, and Knowsley, Merseyside, criticising the coverage of global warming by News Corp-owned newspapers. At least 34 protesters are arrested, while the protests lead to delays in the dissemination of the newspapers. | Activists had blockaded printing presses owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, accusing the British media of failing to report accurately on the "climate emergency." The protest led to major delivery delays.
Blockades by climate activists that delayed several British newspapers from going on sale on Saturday have been branded as "unacceptable" by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
More than 100 protesters from Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, had chained themselves to vehicles and blocked roads to three sites across the UK that belong to media magnate Rupert Murdoch.
"A free press is vital in holding the government and other powerful institutions to account on issues critical for the future of our country, including the fight against climate change," Johnson wrote on his Twitter account.
"It is completely unacceptable to seek to limit the public’s access to news in this way," he said.
Extinction Rebellion said the protest was to highlight what it sees as the British media's failure to report on the "climate emergency" fairly and accurately.
The group on Saturday tweeted that the UK's current Conservative government was "out of touch with the people."
The demonstration led leading to major delays in deliveries of several national newspapers. The plants print The Sun and The Times, which belong to the Australian-born businessman's News UK group, as well as the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, and the Financial Times.
A Newsprinters spokeswoman said the disruption meant printing had to be transferred to other sites.
"This attack on all of the free press impacted many workers going about their jobs. Overnight print workers, delivery drivers, wholesale workers and retail newsagents have faced delays and financial penalty," the spokeswoman was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
Police on Saturday said they had arrested dozens of people so far at different sites.
Extinction Rebellion said the protest aimed to "expose the failure of these corporations to accurately report on the climate and ecological emergency."
The group on Saturday tweeted that the UK's current Conservative government was "out of touch with the people."
XR began ten days of renewed demonstrations across the country on Tuesday to demand that the government do more to tackle climate change.
| Protest_Online Condemnation | September 2020 | ['(DW)', '(Reuters via The Sydney Morning Herald)'] |
Todd Muller resigns as leader of the New Zealand National Party citing health and family reasons. A party caucus elects Judith Collins as the party's new leader. | Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the National Party.
Muller announced early on Tuesday morning that he was resigning from the leadership of the party, effective immediately. The party’s MPs will hold a caucus meeting to possibly vote on a new leader in Wellington on Tuesday evening.
“It has become clear to me that I am not the best person to be leader of the Opposition and leader of the New Zealand National Party at this critical time for New Zealand,” Muller said in a statement. “The role has taken a heavy toll on me personally, and on my family, and this has become untenable from a health perspective.”
National still ruling out working with NZ First, but commentator says temptation could be there * National has a 'fresh start' and will run the ruler over all policies, Willis says * Todd Muller's colleagues weigh in on leadership change The resignation has come as a shock to the National Party. Stuff understands Muller only shared his intention to resign late on Monday, and MPs were made aware on Tuesday morning. His staff told reporters he would not take interviews on Monday due to having a stomach bug.
It is understood that the “health perspective” in the statement refers to mental health issues, with some sources describing it as a “breakdown”. He is understood to not have attended the caucus call announcing his resignation this morning.
Muller took over the leadership from former leader Simon Bridges on May 22, and leaves the position with 67 days until the 2020 election.
The party has in the past week been embroiled in controversy after National Party MP Hamish Walker and former party president Michelle Boag leaked the private details of Covid-19 patients.
“I intend to take some time out of the spotlight to spend with family and restore my energy before reconnecting with my community,” Muller said in the statement. “I look forward to continuing to serve as a loyal member of the National Party team and Member of Parliament for Bay of Plenty.
“I will not be making any further comment. Please respect the privacy of my family and me.” Muller would not be interviewed on his resignation, a National Party spokeswoman confirmed.
National MPs were holding an emergency caucus meeting over teleconference on Tuesday morning, as Muller announced his resignation, to decide how they will vote on a new leader, the spokeswoman said.
The caucus meeting in Wellington will be held late on Tuesday evening. Deputy leader Nikki Kaye will be acting leader of the party in the meantime.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had passed on her best wishes to Muller and his family.
“I have just heard the news about the resignation of Mr Muller as leader of the National Party. No matter what side you’re sitting, politics is a difficult place,” she said in a statement.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said he acknowledged “the heavy price of trying to lead the National Party”.
“One’s sympathy goes out to Todd Muller and his family. Todd is a good man – unlike most of his colleagues, he does have commercial experience – and he will bounce back.
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“Leading a divided and incompetent caucus would have tested even the best leader ... Todd never had a chance given the fault lines of ambition, personality, and ideology that run deep through the National Party caucus.”
Peters said the “instability” of the National Party placed it “out of the running” for the upcoming election. Muller claimed the leadership in a coup in May, after the party plummeted in the polls to its worst ever level. Muller emailed his colleagues on a Wednesday afternoon to formally challenge Bridges’ leadership, saying it could not win the election under him.
“It is essential that National wins this election,” Muller wrote in the email.
“I share the view of the majority of my colleagues that this is not possible under the current leadership.”
Cheers, Aotearoa. Thank you to our readers who have already supported Stuff's reporting. Contribute today to help our journalists bring you independent New Zealand news you can trust. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | July 2020 | ['(Stuff)', '(Stuff2)'] |
A man is arrested after a minor explosion at a hotel in Copenhagen, amid heightened security fears in Denmark. | COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark raised its terror attack preparedness on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, after a man set off a small explosion in a Copenhagen hotel on Friday.
Daily newspaper Ekstrabladet, citing police sources, said police had found a map with the address of daily Jyllands-Posten’s headquarters in the city of Arhus circled among the man’s belongings.
Jyllands-Posten’s publication in 2005 of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad provoked protests in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in which at least 50 people died.
Last year a plot to attack the paper was unveiled and in January the creator of the most controversial cartoon escaped an axe attack by a man with al Qaeda links.
A Copenhagen court ruled on Saturday the man would be detained in custody until October 4 on suspicion of aiming to put others’ lives at risk, a police spokesman said.
“With an overall assessment of the information, we cannot rule out that preparation for something terror-related has occurred,” Copenhagen Chief Police Inspector Jorn Aabye told a news conference.
Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), said in a statement: “There are circumstances that point in the direction of an unsuccessful terror attack.”
They did not elaborate but said it could also not be ruled out that the man had accomplices.
“Due to this, we have taken a number of measures to protect potential terror targets and to sharpen the police’s attention regarding suspect situations.”
A PET spokeswoman said that while police and airports had slightly raised their preparedness level against militant attacks, PET has not changed its assessment of the general level of terror threat against Denmark.
“It is fairly high already,” she said.
Police with sniffer dogs walk outside Hotel Jorgensen in Copenhagen September 10, 2010. REUTERS/Jens Norgaard Larsen/Scanpix
After the explosion, police surrounded the suspect in Orsted Park and security personnel removed a bag wrapped around his waist with remote controlled cutting pliers.
The man has injuries to his face and arm from the blast, police said. No one else was hurt.
A police spokesman said on Friday the bag probably did not contain explosives as it had not exploded when shot at. Aabye declined on Saturday to say what had been in the bag, and also what had else had been found at the hotel so far.
The suspect, who remains in hospital, was not cooperating
with police and his identity is not yet known, Aabye said.
He said the suspect appeared to be European or North African and around 40 years old and spoke excellent English.
Police found a gun at the Hotel Jorgensen in central Copenhagen where the blast occurred in a toilet on Friday.
In its latest assessment of the terror threat against Denmark, PET said that threat was intensified by a high prioritisation of Denmark as a terrorist target by militant groups. “
“Regardless of the background for the bomb detonation, it is important that we don’t allow ourselves to be guided by fear or change the way we live,” Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | September 2010 | ['(BBC)', '(Deutsche Welle)', '(Reuters)'] |
Following exit polls, the Montenegrin opposition led by Zdravko Krivokapić claims victory in the election with Krivokapić saying "the regime has fallen". | PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro’s pro-Serb and Russian opposition groups claimed victory against the ruling pro-Western party in a tense parliamentary election that could see a change in the course of the small Balkan state.
The unofficial tally showed that the two camps were running-neck-and-neck, although they also indicate that the opposition has a bigger chance to form a coalition that will rule the tiny Adriatic country and unseat the Democratic Party of Socialists that has been in power for 30 years.
The election was marked by by a dispute over a law on religious rights that is staunchly opposed by the influential Serbian Orthodox Church. The issue has fueled divisions in the nation of 620,000 people that has defied its traditional Slavic allies Serbia and Russia to become independent in 2006 and join NATO in 2017. Showing high interest in the election, some 75% of eligible 540,000 voters had cast their ballots by the closure of the polling stations, the state electoral commission said. Lines formed outside some polling stations on a very hot summer day.
“The regime has fallen,” said Zdravko Krivokapic, the leader of the opposition For the Future of Montenegro coalition after a vote count by the Center for Monitoring and Research, an independent group.
Claiming victory, Krivokapic said: “People of Montenegro, freedom has happened!” An independent monitoring body said that with nearly all of the vote counted, the ruling party had about 35% percent while the main opposition group had about 33%, but with a greater potential to form a ruling coalition with allied opposition groups.
Complete official results were expected Monday. Montenegrin president and DPS leader Milo Djukanovic said his party’s vote count suggests that DPS will have 30 members in the 81-seat parliament and together with its traditional political partners will garner 40 mandates.
Djukanovic said the party will wait for the final count and “unconditionally” respect the outcome. “The struggle for the majority of parliamentary seats in the Montenegrin parliament is still going on,” said Djukanovic. “We will wait for the final count and the official results to see which of the two political sides will have the decisive 41st mandate.”
Djukanovic praised his party’s “historic” achievements for Montenegro and expressed hope that whoever forms the next government, Montenegro will remain on the European path and pursuing European values. The ruling party led Montenegro to independence peacefully from much larger neighboring Serbia and into NATO and on the threshold of the European Union despite strong opposition from Russia.
Months of church-led protests against the property bill have raised tensions and fears of potential incidents during and after the election on Sunday. Authorities are also thinking back to the previous election, in October 2016, when they said they thwarted a planned election-day coup orchestrated by two Russia military intelligence officers.
The Montenegrin president, known as the longest-serving European leader, has been a key Western ally in the efforts to push the volatile Balkan region toward Euro Atlantic integration.
The main opposition groups have backed the church-led protests against the religion law, seeking closer ties with Belgrade and Moscow.
The pro-Russian Serbian Orthodox Church has argued that the law allows the Montenegrin state to confiscate its property as a prelude to setting up a separate Montenegrin church. This has been denied by the government.
About one third of Montenegro’s people declare themselves as Serbs, which makes relations with Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church a highly sensitive issue.
The coronavirus has ravaged Montenegro’s tourism, which normally feeds the country’s weak economy. The mountainous Adriatic Sea nation is blessed by stunning nature and golden beaches. | Government Job change - Election | August 2020 | ['(AP)'] |
The first possible case is reported in Mali, with the death toll rising in Guinea and Liberia to 90. | By Adama Diarra and Misha Hussain BAMAKO/CONAKRY (Reuters) - Mali said it had identified its first possible cases of Ebola since the start of an outbreak in neighbouring Guinea, adding to fears that the deadly virus was spreading across West Africa. More than 90 people have already died in Guinea and Liberia in what medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has warned could turn into an unprecedented epidemic in an impoverished region with poor health services. [ID:nL5N0MS4ZC] Foreign mining companies have locked down operations and pulled out some international staff in mineral-rich Guinea. French health authorities have also put doctors and hospitals on alert in case people travelling to and from former colonies in the region pick up the disease. [ID:nL5N0MU54S] [ID:nL5N0MV33M] Three people in Mali had been placed in quarantine and samples sent off to Atlanta in the United States for tests, the government said on state television late on Thursday. "A high-speed intervention team has been created to follow the evolution of the situation on the ground," the statement said. It added that the health of the three suspected victims was showing signs of improving. The latest outbreak originated in Guinea two months ago and has since spread to its neighbours Sierra Leone and Liberia. Gambia has placed two people in quarantine although the Health Ministry since said the cases were negative. Guinea's Health Ministry said two more suspected victims of the virus had died, bringing its death count to 86. Liberia also reported three new deaths among its suspected 14 cases, raising its death toll to seven. "We need to fight to contain it. A medical team from (medical charity) MSF came today to help train some of our health workers," Liberia's health minister, Walter Gwenegale, said. FEAR AND MISTRUST The disease, which has killed 1,500 people since it was first recorded in 1976 in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, causes vomiting, diarrhoea and external bleeding. It has a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. Many health systems in West Africa are poorly equipped to deal with an epidemic and aid workers have warned of the difficulty of fighting infections scattered across several locations and in densely populated areas such as Guinea's capital Conakry. Some blame the government for not immediately quarantining an individual who carried the virus from the remote south, where the bulk of the 137 cases are reported, to the capital. There are now 16 cases in Conkary, of whom five have died, a WHO spokesman said on Friday. "How can we trust them now? We have to look after ourselves," said Guinean Dede Diallo, who has stopped working and kept her children at home since the outbreak. Conakry's luxury five-star Palm Camayenne Hotel, popular among businessmen and politicians, is running at less than a third of occupancy, according to a receptionist. Flight data told a similar story. A return Brussels Airlines flight between the Belgian capital and Conakry on Thursday had just 55 people arriving and 200 leaving, an airline employee said. Regional airline Gambia Bird delayed the start of a route to Conakry due to begin last weekend while Senegal has closed its border with Guinea because of the outbreak.
| Disease Outbreaks | April 2014 | ['(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
The United Nations warns that poultry farms could become infected with the H1N1 virus, following the discovery of the virus in turkeys in Chile last week. | The discovery of swine flu in birds in Chile raises concerns about the spread of the virus, the UN warns.
Last week the H1N1 virus was found in turkeys on farms in Chile. The UN now says poultry farms elsewhere in the world could also become infected. Scientists are worried that the virus could theoretically mix with more dangerous strains. It has previously spread from humans to pigs. However, swine flu remains no more severe than seasonal flu. Safe to eat
Chilean authorities first reported the incident last week. Two poultry farms are affected near the seaport of Valparaiso. Juan Lubroth, interim chief veterinary officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said: "Once the sick birds have recovered, safe production and processing can continue. They do not pose a threat to the food chain." Chilean authorities have established a temporary quarantine and have decided to allow the infected birds to recover rather than culling them. It is thought the incident represents a "spill-over" from infected farm workers to turkeys. Canada, Argentina and Australia have previously reported spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus from farm workers to pigs. Dangerous strains
The emergence of a more dangerous strain of flu remains a theoretical risk. Different strains of virus can mix together in a process called genetic reassortment or recombination. So far there have been no cases of H5N1 bird flu in flocks in Chile. However, Dr Lubroth said: "In Southeast Asia there is a lot of the (H5N1) virus circulating in poultry. "The introduction of H1N1 in these populations would be of greater concern." Colin Butter from the UK's Institute of Animal Health agrees. "We hope it is a rare event and we must monitor closely what happens next," he told BBC News. "However, it is not just about the H5N1 strain. Any further spread of the H1N1 virus between birds, or from birds to humans would not be good. "It might make the virus harder to control, because it would be more likely to change." William Karesh, vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who studies the spread of animal diseases, says he is not surprised by what has happened. "The location is surprising, but it could be that Chile has a better surveillance system. "However, the only constant is that the situation keeps changing." | Disease Outbreaks | August 2009 | ['(BBC)'] |
Two people are killed and 14 others injured in a mass shooting at a home in Rochester, New York. It is the largest mass shooting in the city's history. | ROCHESTER, NY Two young adults, a man and a woman, were killed and 14 people wounded early Saturday in the largest Rochester shooting in memory, an act of violence that occurred at a backyard house partywith more than 100 people present.
The shooting occurred on the 200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, at a residence located in the city's Marketview Heights neighborhood.
The identities of the deceased victims havenot been releasedpending notification of next of kin. Acting Police Chief Mark Simmons said both victims were in their late teens or early 20s.
"This is truly a tragedy of epic proportions, if you ask me," Simmons said at a 3:45 a.m. briefing at the scene. "I mean 16victims is unheard of,and for our community,who's right now going through so much, to have to be dealt with this tragedy,needlessly,for people who decide to act in a violent manner is unfortunate and shameful, and we're going to do everything that we can as a department to bring those people involved to justice."
None of the wounds suffered by the 14 other shooting victims are believed to be life threatening, the police chief said. Their ages ranged fromfrom 17 to 23, an RPD statement released late Saturday morning stated.
The wounded were taken to Strong Memorial and Rochester General hospitals.
Two others suffered injuries while fleeing the gunfire, the Rochester Police Department Major Crimes Unit tweeted just before 5 a.m.
The RPD release said no suspects were in custody and said there would be no comment on a motive or the weapons used at the shooting.
Jasmin Lopez and John Santiago , who live in 300 the block of Pennsylvania Avenue, awoke after midnight to gunshots.They found two teens hiding in their driveway. “You could see the fear in his eyes," Santiago said. "He was scared.” They got in a car and drove off.
They said the scene was chaotic. “There were kids throwing up, hiding between bushes, bleeding," Lopez said. She said her first two calls to 911 went unanswered.
More:What we know (and what we don't) about the mass shooting in Rochester
‘He was so scared’:Rochester mass shooting witness watches teens try to escape gunfire
When police arrived, they saw scores of people running from the scene and found multiple people who had been shot. Simmons described it as "a very chaotic scene."
Authorities did not know the house party was occurring until they responded to the 911 call about the shootings, Simmons said.
"This is yet another tragedy where individuals are having these illegal and unsanctioned house parties taking place in these properties," the chief said. He said these are unsafe because of the COVID-19 outbreak, and when "youadd in alcohol and violence … it just becomes a recipe for disaster."
Assisting RPD at the scene were the New York State Police, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Irondequoit Police Department.
Anybody with information regarding the mass shooting, or has video/photographs from the party is asked to email them to MajorCrimes@cityofrochester.gov and call 911.
No further details are expected to be released until later Saturday afternoon, RPD said.
Saturday's mass shooting occurred in a month when tensions between Rochester police and the city's Black community have been high because of the release Sept. 2 of police bodycam video showing the suffocation of Chicago resident Daniel Prude while being restrained by city police during a mental-health calllast March.
Rochester has been the scene of daily Black Lives Matter protests since Sept. 2. Just five days ago, Simmons took over as acting police chief after Mayor Lovely Warren fired Chief La'Ron Singletary over his handling of the Prude case, which was not made public for five months. Numerous other top police officials are leaving their posts because of the Prude case fallout.
Background:Chief La'Ron Singletary relieved of duty, learns of dismissal via Twitter
Asked about a week that included taking the reins of the police department, guiding the police department's handling of Prude protests and now investigating a mass shooting, Simmons turned his answer toward the night's tragic losses.
"This is not a moment for self-reflection," he said. "This is a moment that I'm asking the community to pray for the victims and their families. A lot of people are hurting right now. A lot ofpeople are seeking answers. And the police department are going to do what we can to help bring some comfort and solve this crime for the families."
Before dawn, Warren issued a statement:
“I’ve been briefed by Acting Police Chief Simmons on the shooting event which occurred on Pennsylvania Avenue in the City of Rochester. Our Pathways to Peace Team is on the ground and working with the victims and their families. I’m asking the community for prayers and support for all involved.
"This tragic act of violence has impacted many people's lives and families. I’m begging everyone to remain calm and exercise deep restraint as RPD investigates what happened here and seeks those responsible. As soon as additional information is available, the police department will provide updates on this matter. Please keep our city in your continual prayers.”
Significant numbers of Rochester police officers responded to the scene along Pennsylvania Avenue following the shootings reported at about 12:25a.m.
Both Rochester Police Department mobile command units were present near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Goodman Street earlySaturday.
About 2:15 a.m., members of the policeclergy response team arrivedand were escorted into the area where the apparent shootings occurred.
For the size of the police response and the large area where the investigation is occurring, the scene was marked by an eerie quiet. A bit after 2:30 a.m., relatives or friends of the people involved in the shooting arrived, their anguished cries breaking the night silence.
In 2020, shootings and homicides have risen in many U.S. communities, including Rochester. Authorities have pointed to the coronavirus outbreak as a significant factor.
The extent of Saturday morning's violence is considered a mass shooting, defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot, fatally or otherwise.
The Pennsylvania Avenue house party incident dwarfs any mass shooting seen in 2015, when Rochester led upstate New York in such incidents. That year, six people died and 18 people were wounded in a total of four mass shootings.
Among the mass shootings that year was the Boys & Girls Clubs shooting, in which three people were killed and four wounded on Aug. 19, 2015.
Rochester police that year blamedthe availability of guns, which can quickly escalate disputes, and gang activity as playinga role in the increase in mass shootings.
According to the website gunviolencearchive.com, there had been 454 mass shootings across America in 2020 as of Friday. | Armed Conflict | September 2020 | ['(USA Today)', '(The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)'] |
Thailand announces the possible discovery of a "cure" for the coronavirus after a confirmed coronavirus patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after being given an "anti-HIV" drug. | A Chinese woman infected with the new coronavirus showed a dramatic improvement after she was treated with a cocktail of anti-virals used to treat flu and HIV, Thailand's health ministry said Sunday.
The 71-year-old patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after Thai doctors administered the combination, doctor Kriengsak Attipornwanich said during the ministry's daily press briefing.
"The lab result of positive on the coronavirus turned negative in 48 hours," Kriengsak said.
"From being exhausted before, she could sit up in bed 12 hours later."
The doctors combined the anti-flu drug oseltamivir with lopinavir and ritonavir, anti-virals used to treat HIV, Kriengsak said, adding the ministry was awaiting research results to prove the findings.
The news comes as the new virus claimed its first life outside China C a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines C while the death toll in China has soared above 300.
Thailand so far has detected 19 confirmed cases of the virus believed to have originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is under lockdown.
That is the second-highest number of cases outside of China, with Japan recording 20.
So far, eight patients in Thailand have recovered and returned home, while 11 remain in the hospital.
In a video released Sunday, Thai health minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited a patient from Wuhan who had recovered from the coronavirus, chatting with her amicably in Mandarin as she thanked him and the medical staff.
Thai authorities are trying to balance the screening of inbound Chinese visitors with the economic needs of its tourist sector, which is heavily reliant on arrivals from the mainland.
Messages of support saying "Our hearts to Wuhan" in English, Chinese and Thai were plastered on a Bangkok mall popular with tourists.
The bulk of confirmed cases have been Chinese visitors to Thailand, but on Thursday the kingdom recorded its first human-to-human transmission when a Thai taxi driver was diagnosed with the disease.
.
| Disease Outbreaks | February 2020 | ['(Filipino Times)', '(Daily Sabah)', '(IB Times)'] |
Two people are missing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales as an Australian east coast low causes widespread flooding, gale force winds and the loss of power to 140,000 properties. | Updated 21 Apr 2015, 3:10pmTue 21 Apr 2015, 3:10pm
Three people have been killed in wild weather in NSW's Central Hunter region, where homes have been washed off their footings in the town of Dungog, north of Newcastle. Emergency crews have been battling "cyclonic" conditions, which have already brought heavy rain and wind gusts in excess of 135 kilometres per hour. The State Emergency Service (SES) this afternoon sent an emergency alert to more than 100,000 people in the Newcastle area, warning of another developing storm cell. Premier Mike Baird said the weather was likely to worsen in the coming hours, and urged people in affected areas to consider leaving work early. He told 702 ABC Sydney that NSW, particularly Newcastle, would be hit by "the toughest and worst weather" up until midnight. For updates on the NSW storm, read our live blog. Mr Baird said the three people killed this morning in Dungog were elderly residents. "It's a tragedy and it's hard to imagine that they were just going about their lives a short time ago," Mr Baird told 1233 ABC Newcastle. "Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends." An evacuation centre was set up at Dungog High School following reports at least 20 homes had been damaged by flooding, but authorities encouraged residents to make other accommodation arrangements if they could. Hunter police commander Jeff Loy said several homes had been washed away in the town. Meanwhile, a school bus had been washed off a road near Maitland, and several Hunter homes had been split in half by falling trees
Tens of thousands of people are without power and SES crews have answered more than 4,500 emergency calls as wild weather associated with a low off the east coast batters Sydney, the Hunter and the NSW Central Coast. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) reported 119 millimetres of rainfall in the 24 hours until 9:00am at the Sydney Observatory Hill - the wettest 24-hour period since 2002. The maximum temperature recorded across the day was 15.4 degrees Celsius, making it also the coldest April day since 1983, the BoM said. The SES said "unprecedented" wind gusts of up to 135kph had lashed the Hunter, with dozens of houses losing their roofs, thousands of trees down, and more than 200,000 properties without power across the state - the largest outage since 2007. Dozens of people have been rescued after being trapped in buildings, on roofs and in cars. Mr Baird said rescuers had conducted 47 flood rescues, and 3,000 people had called triple-0 on top of the thousands of requests for help from the SES. We are calling for bosses to be flexible, people to make arrangements in an orderly way to start to head home as soon as you possibly can. Several hospitals were being powered by back-up generators, and crews were working to restore power to health facilities and aged care homes as a priority. "Those requiring support, in terms of ongoing life support, is obviously the focus," he said. He said people in affected areas should consider leaving work early, as the weather was likely to worsen in the coming hours. "So there is strong advice to everyone across the greater metropolitan area, that is from Illawarra to Newcastle, to start to head home as soon as possible," he said. "We are calling for bosses to be flexible, people to make arrangements in an orderly way to start to head home as soon as you possibly can." Forty-seven schools had been closed, mainly in the Hunter, and some would remain closed tomorrow, he said. The BoM said another low pressure system was forming off the Central Coast and was expected to move into the Hunter and coastal areas this afternoon. A severe weather warning is in place for locally destructive winds, heavy rainfall and damaging surf in the Sydney Metropolitan, Hunter and Illawarra districts. "Extremely busy is an understatement," SES Deputy Commissioner Steven Pearce said. "We've received just under 3,000 calls for assistance [in the Sydney, the Hunter district, Central Coast and Illawarra] within a 24-hour period, which is enormous. "We've haven't seen this sort of weather pattern, this east coast low, or one as severe as this, in years. "The consistent gale force winds ... are actually cyclonic in some areas with gusts up to 135 kilometres per hour." Dungog shire community centre manager Sarah U'Brien said residents had never seen anything like the extraordinary weather. "We've got a lot of low lying houses in the township near rivers and unfortunately a lot of those houses have gone under," she said. "It sort of happened in the middle of the night, so people, there wasn't a lot of notice. "We've lost about five houses, there's at least 20 houses had running water rush through them. "We've got a lot of people who have nowhere to call 'home' at the moment." In the nearby town of Greta, fire crews used a dinghy to rescue a woman and two children trapped in their home as it was washed away. "The house had actually broken away from its footings and was floating away," Fire and Rescue NSW's Tom Cooper said. "Fire crews attempted a rescue in a dinghy. They managed to get up to the house where they rescued a woman and her two children, one 12 and one 13. "They were suffering from a little bit of hypothermia. They ambulance crews were there to greet them when they got back to dry land." SES crews had to carry out a number of swift-water rescues after floodwaters swept through the Stroud campground in the Hunter. Councillor Karen Hutchinson described the area around the council-owned site as a disaster zone. "The front fences are gone, the fence around the pool is gone," she said. "There are buildings destroyed; the grandstand has been blown out at one end. [There] is huge damage." One Central Coast resident, David, told 702 ABC Sydney he was at Avoca Beach when he saw fellow walkers washed into the lagoon by a giant wave. "It was just lucky they got washed into the lagoon... rather than back into the surf," he said. "I think they were walking their dogs of all things." "The wind is just howling down there...it's quite spectacular, but so incredibly dangerous." Near Gosford, local MP Lucy Wicks said she had a lucky escape when a tree flattened her car after falling through her house at Springfield. "Hearing the crack of the tree coming across the house at seven o'clock this morning probably not the sound I wanted to hear," she said. "For us, the tree has gone through the lounge room, through a balcony and unfortunately onto our car." Power crews were battling to repair the damaged network but it is expected that some households' electricity may not be restored until Wednesday. Superintendent Wayne Phillips from NSW Fire and Rescue said coastal areas were bearing the brunt of the storm. "The areas most affected are from Sydney to Newcastle. We've got numerous wires down, trees down," he said. The severe weather warning continues today for damaging and locally destructive winds, heavy rainfall and damaging surf across the Sydney, Mid North Coast, Hunter and Illawarra regions. The Hunter and Mid North Coast are expected to suffer through the worst of today's wild weather, with about 200 millimetres of rain and gale force winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour forecast. Meanwhile, there were reports of an 11-metre wave off Sydney. A number of major roads and rail lines have been closed in Sydney and around the state as a result of the wild weather. The Princes Highway is closed at Sydenham because of a fallen power pole, the Bells Line of Road is closed at Kurrajong and flooding has closed the Wakehurst Parkway and Oxford Falls Road near Sydney's northern beaches. Train services have been cancelled between Newcastle and Sydney as well as between the Central Coast and Newcastle. Services on the South Coast train line have also been cancelled between Oak Flats and Kiama. Earlier, Brett Moore from the Transport Management Centre said the best approach was to stay home. "If you can be home today, it may be a good option as the incoming weather has affected the roads and the public transport network," he said. Transport NSW cancelled the Manly Fast Ferry service due to the weather conditions and heavy swell. Courts were also closed in Newcastle, East Maitland, Singleton and Wyong due to the wild weather, NSW Justice said. A car is trapped among the debris near Dungog, highlighting the devastation of the NSW storm. (ABC: Philippa McDonald)
Locals survey the damage and destruction caused by flooding in Dungog NSW Hunter region. (AAP: Nikki Short)
The town of Dungog bore the brunt of the NSW storm and was cut off by floodwaters. (Supplied: Grahame Chevalley, RFS)
Essential supplies are ferried across floodwaters to the Hunter town of Gillieston Heights which has been cut off since the wild weather. (ABC News)
The clean-up begins at Coogee Beach in Sydney after this week's NSW storm. (Supplied: Dominique Faludi)
A boat washed up on the sand at Manly Cove in Sydney's northern beaches after the Sydney storms. (ABC News: Ben Worsley)
Parts of the Hunter region were left under water. (Supplied: Mike Baird)
Several towns and communities in the Hunter Valley have been cut off after this week's NSW storm. (Supplied: Mike Baird)
NSW RFS volunteers sandbagging at Maitland to prevent further damage to the town. (Supplied: NSW RFS)
The town of Gillieston Heights just south of Maitland has been cut off by flood waters from the NSW storm. (ABC: Jackson Vernon)
A council worker begins the clean-up at Manly Cove in northern Sydney. (Supplied: Mark Tamhane)
NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers remove a tree from the roof of a house in Hornsby, northern Sydney. (Supplied: NSW Rural Fire Service)
NSW Premier Mike Baird arrives at Metford SES in the Hunter Valley. (ABC: Paul Turton)
Damage caused to a family home by flooding in Stroud, in the Hunter region. (AAP: Nikki Short)
Close to 400 NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers are assisting with the storm damage clean up. (Supplied: NSW RFS)
The Chipping Norton Lake flooded near homes at Georges Hall, in Sydney's south-west. (Audience submitted: Rhonda Alameddine)
Commuters should expect delays as a number of roads remain closed and bus, train and ferry services are still affected following the NSW wild weather. (AAP: David Moir)
Fire and Rescue crews remove a fallen tree that has crushed a car at Springwood in the Blue Mountains. (Supplied pic: Fire and Rescue NSW)
Part of the town of Maitland, including the New England Highway, was flooded. (ABC News: Melissa Clarke)
Flooding at Marks Point, Lake Macquarie. (Supplied: Ian Osborne)
Colleen Jones (centre) is consoled after losing her house during flooding in Dungog in the NSW Hunter Valley. (AAP: Nikki Short)
Flooding at Marks Point, Lake Macquarie, south of Newcastle. (Supplied: Ian Osborne)
An entertaining area of a home devastated by the storm at Salt Ash in the NSW Hunter Valley. (1233 ABC Newcastle: Robert Virtue)
A go-kart track is inundated with floodwaters at Bobs Farm in the NSW Hunter Valley. (1233 ABC Newcastle: Robert Virtue)
Livestock stands in floodwaters in Salt Ash, north-west of Newcastle. (1233 ABC Newcastle: Robert Virtue)
Erosion at the boulevard at Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle. (Audience submitted: Rick Wraight)
A house at Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches which is in danger of collapsing down a hill following the wild weather in Sydney. (ABC News: Anne Barker)
Passengers from the cruise ship Carnival Spirit disembark at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal after the ship was stranded off the coast of Sydney for two days. (Reuters: Jason Reed)
A Fire and Rescue NSW officer stands next to a submerged car amidst debris and flooding in Dungog. (Facebook: Fire and Rescue NSW)
A man inspects a damaged car amid debris in Dungog. (Facebook: Fire and Rescue NSW)
Damage in East Maitland in the wake of wild weather that swept across the region. (ABC News: Jackson Vernon)
Debris lies strewn across a property at Dungog. (@FRNSW)
Water resulting from days of torrential rain nearly covers a sign at the Manly Dam. (702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan)
A tree lies on a car in the inner-Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. (Audience submitted: Catherine Buman)
Boys try to take cover during heavy winds blowing sand onto the Bondi Beach promenade during heavy storms across Sydney and the region. (AAP: David Moir)
SES crew work to repair the damaged roof of a house in Sydney's inner west. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
A ute and a campervan were washed off Cowper Road near Mill Creek and into the bushes at Stroud. (Supplied: Davina Lathwell)
A man takes shelter next to discarded broken umbrellas in bins during heavy rain in the Sydney CBD. (AAP: David Moir)
A ute submerged in floodwaters at Stroud. (Supplied: Davina Lathwell)
A couple braves the rain to see Dunningham Park covered in sand from Coogee Beach. (702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan)
A Wollongong SES crew was called to a house at Helensburgh after it was damaged by a falling tree. (Supplied: NSW SES)
Sydney's highest flag pole, on top of Beacon Hill, was destroyed due to severe weather just days just before Anzac Day. (Supplied: Gerben Van Duyl)
A pathway littered with debris from fallen tree branches on a Sydney street. (702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan)
A gum tree uprooted on a property in Booragul. (Supplied: NSW SES)
SES workers prepare to remove a fallen tree from a residential street in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Stanmore. (Supplied: Robert Lohr)
Massive winds at Coogee Beach blew a huge amount of sand into the car park. (702 ABC Sydney: Brendan King)
An uprooted tree destroyed a property in the Newcastle suburb of Hamilton. (Supplied: James Borg)
Fallen trees blocked streets in Frenchs Forest, northern Sydney. (Twitter: @Jessica_Danelle)
SES workers rescued a number of people from floodwaters in Stroud Showground, north of Newcastle. (Supplied: Lisa Tull)
Commuters were urged to reconsider travel plans as transport services, including at Marrickville train station, were cut by floodwaters. (Twitter: @SirLiberal)
A massive swell prevented a cruise ship carrying 2,500 passengers from entering Sydney Harbour. (YouTube: Gavin Baskerville)
A dog battles against strong winds in the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. | Floods | April 2015 | ['(ABC News Australia)'] |
Spanish Basque separatist group ETA announces it will end its 15month ceasefire tonight at midnight . | The Basque separatist group, ETA, has said it will end its 15-month-old ceasefire at midnight tonight and has warned the Spanish government of new attacks.
In a communiqué sent to Basque media, ETA said it was calling an end to the truce because of what it claims are arrests, tortures and every type of persecution by Spain's Socialist government.
The Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, said the group is 'making a mistake again' by ending the ceasefire, and demanded that the armed group abandons violence.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is assessing the potential impact of ETA's decision on Irish holidaymakers in Spain.
A spokesperson said department officials were currently 'speaking with like-minded countries' to see if it was necessary to give a warning to Irish tourists.
But he added that the level of travel advice given to Irish travellers probably would not change too much in light of the ending of the ceasefire.
ETA declared a ceasefire in March 2006 and had insisted that it still held despite killing two people in a bomb attack at Madrid airport in December. | Armed Conflict | June 2007 | ['(CEST)', '(RT)'] |
Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan near the town of Sibi set fire to more than 20 oil tanker trucks carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan. | Alex Harvill, a 28-year-old motorcycle stuntman, died Thursday during a warm-up run for a 351-foot jump at the Moses Lake Airshow in Washington state.
Had jumped 297 feet in 2013 »
A woman seeking to “extract revenge” against her husband has been found guilty scalding him to death with a fatal mixture of boiling water and sugar. Corinna Smith, 59, was convicted of murder for the July 14, 2020 attack of her 81-year-old husband, Michael Baines, at their shared home in Neston, Cheshire, England. Smith filled a garden bucket with the scalding hot liquid and threw it onto Baines’ arms and torso as he slept. She then fled to a neighbor’s house and admitted what she’d just done,
One of the biggest TikTok trends of the past six or so weeks is definitely the rise of the bikini styling hack. There are tons and tons of videos of people...
These space-saving hacks are perfect for new parents trying to make the most out of a small space!
Amid a rambling, off-the-rails phone interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, former President Donald Trump finally admitted a critical fact: “We didn’t win.” It was the first time since the presidential election more than seven months ago that Trump has conceded to his successor, President Joe Biden. Biden also won the Electoral College 306-232.
The Portland Police Bureau announced Thursday that its entire Rapid Response Team left their voluntary positions on squad Wednesday after a fellow officer was indicted on an assault charge for allegedly using "excessive" and "unlawful" force during a protest last August.Driving the news: Tuesday's indictment of officer Corey Budworth is the first time a Portland police officer has faced prosecution for striking or firing at someone during a protest, according to The Oregonian.Get market news wor
OnlyFans model Karley Stokes said that after she posted her poolside photo, a security guard arrived to escort her group out of the Florida property.
June 18 -Gemini - You are having fun with someone new or maybe a new project or job that you weren't sure about at first. Your terrific energy is perfect for turning work into playtime, so share the good vibes! See more » | Famous Person - Death | October 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Reuters via Yahoo! News)'] |
South Korean President Moon Jae-in says there is a "desperate need" for practical ways to improve ties with North Korea and says he is ready to meet repeatedly with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang if necessary. | SEOUL (Reuters) - There is a “desperate need” for practical ways to improve ties with North Korea, the South’s President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday, adding that he was ready to meet with the reclusive leader in Pyongyang repeatedly if necessary.
S. Korea's Moon wants North to return to talks
01:09
Moon, sidelined from his leading role in the diplomatic effort with North Korea in 2018, said he regretted the past year’s lack of progress in negotiations.
In an annual New Year’s speech in Seoul, Moon called for new talks with Kim Jong Un, and vowed to keep up work to facilitate U.S.-North Korea communication.
“In a time of deadlock in U.S.-North Korea talks - and where we are even concerned about a step backward in inter-Korean relations - we are in desperate need of practical ways to improve inter-Korean cooperation,” he said.
He also said he would continue to push for restarting the Kaesong Industrial Complex and tours to Mt. Kumgang, and mentioned border cooperation without elaborating. He added the joint 2032 Olympics bid would be a unifying event, as would completing the inter-Korean railroad.
“We want to make an era where separation is no longer a roadblock for peace and prosperity for South and North Korea,” he said.
North Korea has been unresponsive to other recent overtures from Seoul, and cooperation projects between the neighbors have stalled in the face of international sanctions that bar most business with the North.
Pyongyang has expressed frustration at what it calls Washington’s lack of flexibility, while U.S. officials say it must take more concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs before sanctions are eased.
“The momentum for U.S.-North Korea talks must continue,” Moon said. “Provocations and threats are not helpful for anyone.”
Over the New Year, Kim said he planned to further develop nuclear programs and introduce a “new strategic weapon” in the near future, though he signaled there was still room for dialogue with the United States.
Security and prosperity on the Korean peninsula are dependent on resolving international tensions, but the two Koreas could achieve progress through cooperation, Moon said.
“I suggest South and North Korea put our heads together,” he said.
| Diplomatic Talks _ Diplomatic_Negotiation_ Summit Meeting | January 2020 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Clashes break out between Israeli security forces and Bedouin residents in Khan al-Ahmar, West Bank, as Israeli bulldozers prepare to demolish the village. The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that its residents could be evicted on May 24, while such relocation is considered illegal under international humanitarian law. | KHAN AL-AHMAR, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian protests broke out on Wednesday at a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank facing Israeli demolition in what rights groups have condemned as a bid to expand Jewish settlement.
Clashes as Israeli bulldozers target Bedouin village
01:14
Israel moved three bulldozers to the village, Khan al-Ahmar, earlier in the day though demolition had yet to begin, after the military left a land confiscation notice there on Tuesday.
Around 180 Bedouin, raising sheep and goats, live in tin and wood shacks in Khan al-Ahmar. It is situated between a major Israeli settlement, Maale Adumim near Jerusalem, and a smaller one to the northeast, Kfar Adumim.
Khan al-Ahmar was built without Israeli permits, which Palestinians say are impossible to obtain. Israel has long sought to clear Bedouin from the area between the two settlements, and the Supreme Court approved the demolition in May.
Removing the Bedouin, human rights groups say, would create a bigger settlement pocket near Jerusalem and make it more difficult for Palestinians to achieve territorial contiguity in the West Bank, a territory they seek along with the Gaza Strip for a future state.
At Khan al-Ahmar, several dozen Palestinians scuffled with Israeli police, who punched several of the men they dragged away. A Palestinian ambulance service said 35 protesters were hurt and four of them were taken to hospital. Police said two people were arrested.
“I was born here and will not move anywhere else,” said Feisal Abu Dahok, 45. “If they destroy the village, we will build it again here or nearby.”
Israel said it plans to relocate the residents to an area about 12 kilometers (seven miles) away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.
The new site is adjacent to a landfill and rights advocates say that a forcible transfer of the residents would violate international law applying to occupied territory.
At a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the U.N. human rights office expressed concern at reports of impending demolition.
“For more than a decade people in the Khan al-Ahmar community ... have resisted efforts to move them to make way for settlement expansion,” the spokeswoman, Liz Throssell, said.
She said “international humanitarian law prohibits the destruction or confiscation of private property by the occupying power”, a reference to Israel, which captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
Most countries regard settlements Israel has built in the West Bank as illegal. Israel disputes this.
Khan al-Ahmar’s residents belong to the Jahalin tribe of Bedouin who were expelled from southern Israel by the military in the 1950s.
.
| Riot | July 2018 | ['(Reuters)'] |
Argentina petitions Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister and Ali Khamenei's advisor Ali Akbar Velayati, who is currently in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, over his alleged role in the 1994 Jewish center bombing. | BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Argentine federal judge investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing has asked Russian officials to arrest a high-level Iranian adviser to the country’s supreme leader in connection with the attack.
Ali Akbar Velayati was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow. Velayati, who was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been implicated in ordering the bombing, is now an adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Velayati is among special envoys that Iran is sending to various countries in response to the US withdrawal earlier this year from the 2015 nuclear deal.
“After Mr. Trump’s strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to send special envoys to different countries conveying the message of high officials of Iran containing our stances, positions, and approaches towards this arrogant and illegal move of the US,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in describing the Wednesday visit of Velayati to Moscow.
Following news reports of the visit, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral requested the arrest of Velayati. There has been an international arrest warrant against Velayati and seven other Iranian officials since 2006. The AMIA bombing killed 85 and injured hundreds. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2018 | ['(The Times of Israel)'] |
White smoke rises from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in the evening indicating that a new pope has been chosen. | Iran's state television says "HABEMUS PAPAM" has been named as the new pope (well done state translators!) #Iran #newpope
11.15pm GMT Bergoglio has had a tense relationship with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Jonathan Watt adds. Their relationship worsened after the president passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in Argentina in 2010. The president even joked about beating Bergoglio for Pope herself. "Pity there is no Popess, if not I could compete for a post," Fernández said at a public event recently. Although never directly, Bergoglio has delivered homilies in which he declared himself against Fernández's apparent ambition to change the Argentine Constitution to seek a third term of office in 2015, asking for "the banishment of oversized ambitions" and criticizing "the deliriums of grandeur" of the country's politicians. 11.10pm GMT My colleague Jonathan Watts in Brazil has more background on Bergoglio rise and his reputation as a cardinal. Bergoglio was known in Buenos Aires for keeping an extremely low profile. The son of railway worker and a houswife from the middle-class neighbourhood of Flores, after he became archibishop of the city in 1998 he routinely turned down invitations to eat at restaurants and only left the archbishopric for meals at small soup kitchens. Otherwise, he was a typical "Porteño," as inhabitants of the porty city of Buenos Aires are known, a follower of the San Lorenzo football club, with a taste for classical music and the writings of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. An anecdote from his former spokesman Guillermo Marcó when Bergoglio was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. On February 21, 2001, Bergoglio was in Rome to be anointed cardinal. As they got ready to leave the house for priests where they were staying, Marcó asked how they should travel to the Vatican. "Walking, of course," said Bergolgio. Marcó protested that Bergoglio was wearing his red robe. "Don't worry," Bergoglio said. "In Rome you could walk with a banana on your head an nobody would say anything." When they arrived to the Holy see on foot, the Vatican guard was astounded. "The majority of cardinals arrived with large retinues," Marcó said. "Bergoglio arrived with just myself and a couple of relatives." 10.56pm GMT The Guardian's David Smith is in Cape Town, South Africa. He speaks with Father Russell Pollitt, the parish priest at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Johannesburg, who says he's "surprised that there is a pope tonight":
"All seemed to indicate that it would take longer and many commentators said that. I am even more surprised that he is a brother Jesuit. "I think that already tonight we are going to see a different kind of papacy. He greeted people warmly - not in a liturgical manner - and asked the people to bless him before he gave a blessing. He wasn't dressed in the red papal mozzetta and wore a simple wooden cross. "I think he will understand the African context better than a European; he has first hand experience of poverty, political upheavals and third world health and education issues. The fact that he talks about being bishop of Rome is also intriguing. He has the intellectual ability and sophisticated understanding of the developed world but the pastoral experience of the third world. St Francis of Assisi spoke about 'rebuilding' the Church... What does the name suggest?" Updated at 11.02pm GMT
10.51pm GMT Argentina's new Hand of God: front page of tomorrow's Irish Examiner. twitter.com/tonyleen/statu…
10.43pm GMT Mark Rice-Oxley profiles Pope Francis in the Guardian:
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has become the Catholic church's 266th pope, is the choice of humility, a Jesuit intellectual who travels by bus and has a practical approach to poverty...
Something of a surprise choice – he was quoted as a 30/1 outsider going into the conclave – the archbishop of Buenos Aires was one of the leading challengers to Joseph Ratzinger during the 2005 conclave that elected the latter as Benedict XVI. A champion of liberation theology which some thought might have been too much for conservatives in the Vatican, he nonetheless is considered a candidate that everyone in the higher echelons of the church respects. He becomes the church's first Latin American pope. Read the full piece here. Updated at 10.49pm GMT
10.41pm GMT A blog with English translations of Berglogio's sermons is under construction here. Let us know if you find anything especially eye-catching. (h/t @michaelbd)
Updated at 10.41pm GMT
10.33pm GMT Guardian Latin America correspondent Jonathan Watts has reaction from Brazil:
President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil – the world's biggest Catholic nation – added her congratulations and said she looked forward to hosting the new pope on what is expected to be his first papal visit, to Rio in July. "Coming such a short time after the election of the new pontiff, this visit will strengthen our nation's religious tradition and the bonds that connect Brazil to the Vatican," she said in a statement. 10.31pm GMT Luke Coppen is editor of the Catholic Herald:
This is the best article I've read aboutthe new Pope Francis so far: alturl.com/cn2o8
José Mariá Poirier in the Catholic Herald calls Bergoglio "notoriously media-shy." The dateline is 2013, but some of the copy at least (see the last graph below) seems to be recycled from 2005, when Bergoglio was also thought to be a leading candidate for pope:
What a surprise: it turns out that the main opponent to the unstoppable Joseph Ratzinger in the April conclave was none other than the severe, shy figure of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The revelation comes in the “secret diary” of one of their colleagues in the Casa Santa Marta – a cardinal’s account of the election published recently in an Italian magazine. The spotlight the news has placed on Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio – whether or not it is true – will be agony for this notoriously media-shy Jesuit, whose face will have gone even redder with the speculation by vaticanisti that Bergoglio should now be seen as the leading contender to replace Benedict XVI when his time comes: the first Jesuit, and the first Latin American, in Church history to occupy the See of St Peter. For Bergoglio’s enemies, the revelation will come as no surprise. It only proves, they will say, what we thought all along: that behind all that humility what Bergoglio really cares about is ambition. [...]
Bergoglio as Pope? Perhaps it is not so surprising. There was much talk, in John Paul II’s final years, that his successor should be a Latin American; the feeling was widespread that the continent’s hour was near. Bergoglio would be a safe bet: at 69 [sic] he is relatively young, and comes with many virtues: he is austere, doctrinally solid, and with a proven track record in Church governance, as Jesuit provincial, then auxiliary bishop and Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Read the full piece here. Updated at 10.36pm GMT
10.21pm GMT The announcement by the official papal Twitter account has now been re-tweeted a good 65,000 times:
HABEMUS PAPAM FRANCISCUM
10.18pm GMT A detail from a Reuters biographical sketch:
! RT @lukecoppen: Pope Francis only has one lung as a result of a respiratory illness in his youth: alturl.com/ocoqy
More biographical details of Pope Francis:
Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, and was one of five children in middle class family. A respiratory illness, which he suffered during his youth, left him with only one lung. Having studied chemical engineering, Bergoglio entered the seminary in the Villa Devoto neighbourhood of his native city. In 1958 he joined the Jesuit order, and went on to study humanities in Chile before returning to Buenos Aires in 1960 where he got a degree in philosophy. In 1969, he was ordained a priest and just four years later was named provincial superior of Argentina, a post he held until 1979. 10.13pm GMT The Guardian's David Smith is in Cape Town, South Africa. He speaks with Raymond Perrier, director of the Jesuit Institute of South Africa, who described himself as "intrigued" by the choice"
"It's a huge surprise," he said. "He's older than I expected; I thought they would go for someone in their early 70s. He was very clearly on the shortlist in 2005 when he was 70. He's now 77 and I wonder if embedded in that is an assumption that Benedict has set a precedent: the pope can retire in his mid to late 80s. "He's the first Jesuit pope ever. The notion of a Jesuit pope is so odd because Jesuits take an oath of allegiance to the pope. So in a sense he has to stop being a Jesuit; he can't be his own boss. "While an African pope would have been interesting, the notion of an African pope ahead of a Latin American pope just wasn't plausible. The church has been in Latin America much longer and had the prior claim: it was 1492 versus the 1850s. Africa just didn't have the candidates. Peter Turkson was the strongest but he blotted his copybook in recent weeks. "But the fact he's a pope from the global south? That's big, that's significant." Updated at 11.00pm GMT
10.05pm GMT A "man of the people":
Love this photo. Our new #pope took the subway everyday while he was a cardinal in Argentina.A man of his people. twitter.com/lt_mattsmith/s…
But there are conflicting reports on Bergoglio's commuting habits. Was it the subway – or a bus? :
As a cardinal, Pope Francis cooked for himself and rode the bus to work ow.ly/iTgyY #HabemusPapam #Catholic
The Catholic News Agency profile says:
Later he told Fr. Rosica that he lived “very simply in an apartment in Argentina,” where he took care of “a handicapped Jesuit.”
Pope Francis also said that he cooks for himself and rides the bus to work. No matter. We all know how he'll be getting around from here on out. 9.47pm GMT A note of caution about a claim in Hugh O'Shaughnessy's comment piece extracted below. We have not been able to ask Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky about the allegation that Bergoglio was implicated in helping the Argentinian navy hide political prisoners in what O'Shaughnessy described as "his holiday home in an island called El Silencio". One of our reporters is examining the claims made by Verbitsky in his book. It appears that the island was owned by a senior Buenos Aires Catholic official, not Bergoglio, and visited by priests in the diocese. The Guardian has not seen any evidence linking Bergoglio to the hiding of prisoners on the island. We will publish a more detailed report as soon as possible. • 1.35pm (GMT) 14 March 2013: It has now been established that the claims made by O'Shaughnessy as outlined above were wrong. Updated at 1.39pm GMT
9.38pm GMT Stop the presses:
Front page. Special edition. L'Osservatore Romano. twitter.com/CatholicNewsSv…
9.30pm GMT The Guardian's Sam Jones passes this along from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who offered his "warmest welcome to the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as the successor to His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI." Welby's statement reads in part:
9.26pm GMT Monica Mark gathers reaction from Ghana, whose cardinal, Peter Turkson, was seen as Africa’s best hope for the papacy. Mark reached Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye, secretary-general of Ghana’s Catholic Bishop’s Conference, who was ordained by Turkson in 2005:
If a cardinal from Ghana had been chosen it would have been an great honour to us and the African continent, but we weren’t so concerned with all the media hype. The surprise was we were not anticipating someone from outside of Europe. But wherever they came from was not our concern. Truly the reaction in Ghana, even right now in my church, has been one of joy and happiness. We know that no single cardinal has all the answers to all the problems of a particular continent or even one country, but they will all work together in concert. Argentina, Latin America – that is somewhere with similar challenges to Africa, and [Bergoglio] has a solid pastoral background that is crucial for places where the church as a whole is facing difficulties, whether it is Sudan or Israel. That is what was expected from a new leader. 9.20pm GMT Via the BuzzFeed night desk:
RT @dsorbara: Homepage of @clarincom, one of Argentina's largest dailies, after the pope announcement twitter.com/dsorbara/statu…
9.15pm GMT The Guardian's Giles Tremlett reports from Madrid that Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, "a conservative and Catholic, is obviously delighted by the choice of a Spanish-speaking pope." Rajoy released a statement:
On this historic occasion in which the church makes itself more universal than ever, I declare my government's readiness to continue and, if possible, strengthen the special relationship between the Holy See and Spain, on the basis of the profound values that we share: life, human dignity, freedom, peace and justice. 9.13pm GMT The Guardian's Angelique Chrisafis has reaction from French president Francois Hollande, who congratulated the new pope and wished him all the best "in facing the challenges of the modern world":
Hollande said France, "faithful to its universal principles of liberty, egality and fraternity," would continue its dialogue with the Holy See for "peace, justice, solidarity and human dignity." 9.10pm GMT The first pope from South America has a "local" flock of 425.5m:
New graphic: 39% of #Catholics worldwide live in Latin America; Argentina has 11th largest Catholic pop in world twitter.com/pewforum/statu…
9.06pm GMT Vice President Joe Biden, an observant Catholic and the first member of that faith to be elected vice president, will lead the US delegation to newly elected Pope Francis' installation in Rome, the Associated Press reports. 9.02pm GMT Reuters has a transcript of the first words from Pope Francis (h/t @nycjim):
Here is a transcript of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's first words as pope as translated by Reuters from the Italian. I thank you for this welcome by the diocesan community of Rome to its bishop. Thank you. First of all, I would like to say a prayer for our bishop emeritus, Benedict XVI.Let us all pray together for him, let us all pray together for him so that the Lord my bless him and that the Madonna may protect him. (The new pope then prayed the "Lord's Prayer", the "Hail Mary" and the "Glory Be" with the crowd in Italian). He then continued:
Let us always pray for us, one for the other, let us pray for the whole world, so that there may be a great fraternity. I hope that this journey of the Church that we begin today and which my cardinal vicar, who is here with me, will help me with, may be fruitful for the evangelisation of this beautiful city. Now, I would like to give you a blessing, but first I want to ask you for a favour.Before the bishop blesses the people, I ask that you pray to the Lord so that he blesses me. This is the prayer of the people who are asking for the blessing of their bishop. In silence, let us say this prayer of you for me. (After a few seconds of silent prayer, he then delivered his blessing). He then concluded:
Updated at 9.04pm GMT
8.51pm GMT 8.48pm GMT The Wikileaks cables included detailed diplomatic assessments of all the 2005 papal candidates, including Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio:
-- BERGOGLIO, Jorge Mario: Born December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, and ordained December 13, 1969 during his theological studies at the Theological Faculty of San Miguel. Bergoglio served as Jesuit Provincial (elected leader of the order) for Argentina (1973-79) and rector of the Philosophical and Theological Faculty of San Miguel (1980-86). After completing his doctoral dissertation in Germany, Bergoglio served as a confessor and spiritual director in Cordoba. In 1992, the Pope appointed him Assistant Bishop of Buenos Aires; then in 1997, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop (deputy archbishop with right of succession) of Buenos Aires; ultimately becoming Archbishop on February 28, 1998. | Government Job change - Election | March 2013 | ['(The Guardian)', '(The New York Times)', '(NCR)'] |
A 22–year–old Chinese woman falls from a building, becoming the thirteenth Foxconn employee to die in a spate of deaths at the company. | A 22-year-old female worker at a Foxconn factory in China has died after falling from a high building this week.
Foxconn, whose parent company is Hon Hai, the largest electronics components maker, confirmed the death.
It said the woman fell from a dormitory on Wednesday; she worked in the packaging department in the Kunshan factory in eastern Jiangsu province.
Police are investigating whether the death was suicide, following a spate of suicides at Foxconn plants this year.
A total of 13 Chinese employees have committed suicide at Foxconn or related plants, including 10 in the southern city of Shenzhen.
The company says the deaths were not work-related, but families of the deceased have blamed the punishing work schedules in China's factories.
The deaths have sparked wider concerns about working conditions in China and drawn attention to the growing labour movement and frequent strikes on the mainland.
| Famous Person - Death | August 2010 | ['(BBC)'] |
An explosion in a mine in Teutschenthal, Saxony–Anhalt, Germany, injures two workers and traps around 30 underground in a secure area. All are rescued several hours later. | Some 34 workers were trapped underground after an explosion at a mine in eastern Germany. Authorities have given the all clear. At least two people were injured and 34 people were temporarily trapped underground after an explosion at a mine in eastern Germany on Friday.
The workers at the Teutschenthal mine escaped to a secure area, police said. The safety room is reportedly 700 meters (2,300 feet) underground.
Several hours after the explosion, police announced that all the miners had been recovered and gave the all clear.
Regional broadcaster MDR reported the fire brigade had been working to extract the workers. The injured people were a Polish national and a German national. One of them was seriously injured.
Authorities said all work at the mine would stop until the cause had been clarified, however early signs pointed towards a hydrogen explosion or deflagration.
The former potash salt mine was shut down in 1982 and has since been converted into a backfill mine, according to the operator. Workers fill in the cavities left by 80 years of mining, disposing of mineral waste and protecting the surface from collapse.
Since the beginning of 2008, the Teutschenthal mine has been a subsidiary of the Geiger Group. | Mine Collapses | November 2019 | ['(Deutsche Welle)'] |
A 2014 deadline that would have moved a U.S. airbase opposed by politicians and civilians off Okinawa is cancelled following last year's resignation of Prime Minister of Japan Yukio Hatoyama over his own inability to remove the base. | Japan and the US have agreed to drop a 2014 deadline to move a controversial US airbase on the island of Okinawa.
Officials from both nations said the Futenma airbase, near the provincial capital of Naha, would be moved "at the earliest possible date after 2014".
But they did not specify a date for the relocation.
Both governments have endorsed a plan to move the base to a less populated part of the island, but opponents say that would devastate marine life.
Many locals supported a plan by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to move the base off Okinawa entirely.
But Mr Hatoyama was forced to resign last year after he admitted he could not keep his promise to move the base off the island.
Many Okinawans feel that they shoulder too much of the burden of the 50-year-old US-Japan defence alliance.
About half of the US military personnel based in Japan are in Okinawa.
Under a 2006 agreement, the US had promised to move the base to Camp Schwab, in a rural area far from Naha.
The US also agreed to move some 8,000 Marines and 9,000 of their dependents from Okinawa to the island of Guam.
In a joint statement, the two countries reaffirmed their support for those plans.
But the statement added: "Completion of the FRF [Futenma Replacement Facility] and the Marine relocation will not meet the previously targeted date of 2014."
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that the relocation of Futenma airbase was still critical to US policy in the region.
"Doing so will reduce the impact of our presence on local residents in Okinawa while allowing us to maintain capabilities critical to the alliance in Japan," he said.
Protests over the issue have erupted sporadically over the years.
One came in 1972, when reversion from US to Japanese rule did not result in base closures. Another came in 1995 after a 12-year-old girl was raped by three US troops. | Government Job change - Resignation_Dismissal | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
A North Korean delegation arrives in South Korea to mourn the death of former South Korean President Kim Dae–jung. | SEOUL, Republic of Korea: A high-level delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) officials paid their respects Friday to late former Republic of Korea's (ROK) President Kim Dae-jung, shaking his sons' hands and leaving a wreath at the National Assembly mourning site.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-il's close aide Kim Ki-nam (L), secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, leading the DPRK delegation to the funeral, offers flowers to the deceased former ROK President Kim Dae-jung at a memorial altar at the National Assembly in Seoul August 21, 2009. [Agencies]
The visit is the first to Seoul by the DPRK officials in nearly two years, and only the second time Pyongyang has sent a delegation to Seoul for mourning rites. Dressed in black, they laid a wreath emblazoned with the name of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-il at the altar for the former president.
Chief delegate Kim Ki-nam then burned incense, and the six-member delegation bowed before a large portrait of Kim Dae-jung before greeting his family.
The visit to mourn a man who devoted his presidency to building better relations with the DPRK raised hopes of improved ties on the tense Korean peninsula. Kim died Tuesday at age 85.
The two Koreas officially remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
Kim Dae-jung was respected on both sides of the border for his efforts to break down decades of postwar mistrust. His "Sunshine Policy" of reaching out to the DPRK with aid - highlighted by a historic summit with Kim Jong-il in 2000 - won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
The DPRK delegation's closely watched trip may provide a valuable opportunity for dialogue between the two Koreas, whose relations have deteriorated since the ROK President Lee Myung-bak, a conservative, took office last year, abandoning the Sunshine Policy.
Lee has said Pyongyang must follow through on its commitments on nuclear disarmament before receiving aid.
It was not clear whether the delegation, which includes spy chief Kim Yang-gon, would hold talks with the ROK officials before returning home Saturday. Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters that no other itinerary for the delegation had been set.
Pyongyang has only dispatched a condolence delegation once before - a one-day trip in 2001 to mourn Chung Ju-yung, the founder of the ROK's Hyundai Group, which funded the first inter-Korean joint projects.
The visit is the latest conciliatory gesture by the DPRK after months of tensions as it conducted a nuclear test and test-fired a barrage of missiles, earning international condemnation and UN sanctions.
After former President Bill Clinton went to Pyongyang on Aug. 4 to secure the release of jailed American reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling, holding talks during the visit with Kim Jong-il, the DPRK released a ROK national whom it had held for four months.
It also agreed to allow the resumption of some joint North-South projects suspended amid tensions with Seoul, and said it would lift restrictions on cross-border traffic in place since December and resume cargo train service across the border.
The DPRK diplomats, meanwhile, met for a second day Thursday in the United States with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Richardson said they told him the DPRK was ready to discuss its nuclear program with Washington. Pyongyang abandoned six-nation talks on nuclear disarmament earlier this year. The governor described the discussions as "very positive."
But in a reminder of the state of war in the Korean peninsula, a DPRK military official warned that his country is braced for conflict with the US and the ROK.
The DPRk will deal a "merciless and immediate" strike against any US or the ROK provocation, the official Korean Central News Agency quoted the unidentified official as saying.
The DPRK military said earlier its army is on "special alert" because of joint US-ROK military exercises in the South. | Famous Person - Death | August 2009 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(Yonhap)', '(China Daily)'] |
The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights abuses and calls on the Security Council to refer violations to the International Criminal Court. |
NEW YORK – The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday formally endorsed a resolution by a majority vote condemning North Korea’s human rights record and urging for the second consecutive year that the Security Council consider referring the issue to the International Criminal Court.
It marked the 11th year in a row that the U.N. General Assembly has passed a similar resolution on Pyongyang’s human rights issue. This year’s draft received 119 votes in favor, while 19 countries — including China, Russia and Iran — voted against it and 48 abstained.
The document, authored by Japan and the European Union, references a U.N. commission of inquiry established in 2013 whose findings “provide reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed” according to “policies established at the highest level of the State for decades.”
North Korea was upset by this accusation when it was first added to the draft resolution last year, with officials apparently concerned that the country’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un could be held responsible.
In remarks to the plenary session just ahead of the vote, Ri Song Chol, a counselor at the North Korean mission, strongly rejected the resolution as politically motivated and claimed it is “based upon all sorts of distortions and fabrications including sheer lies.”
The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries including the United States and South Korea, urges Pyongyang to release its political prisoners, put an end to torture and repression, address malnutrition and cooperate with international observers, among other steps.
It also pushes North Korea to ensure the immediate return of foreign national abductees, an issue closely followed by Japan because of a number of nationals abducted by agents of Pyongyang decades ago.
In addition to recommending ICC involvement, the document suggests “targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible for acts that the commission has said may constitute crimes against humanity.”
Param-Preet Singh, Senior Counsel with the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch, said, “Today’s vote signals to Pyongyang that the world remains deeply concerned about the horrific abuses in North Korea. The victims deserve to see the architects of their suffering brought to justice.”
A referral of the country’s human rights issue to the ICC is deemed unlikely, however, since it would require approval from the 15-member Security Council, including veto-wielding China and Russia, both of which voted against the resolution.
Japan hopes to press the Security Council to address North Korean issues during its next two-year stint as a nonpermanent member of the Security Council, which begins on Jan. 1. | Sign Agreement | December 2015 | ['(UPI)', '(The Japan Times)'] |
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada reports the aircraft departed with ice on it before losing height shortly after takeoff. The December 17 crash killed one and injured fifteen. | Accident: West Wind AT42 at Fond-du-Lac on Dec 13th 2017, descended into terrain shortly after takeoff
A West Wind Aviation Avions de Transport Regional ATR-42-300, registration C-GWEA performing flight WEW-282 from Fond-du-Lac,SK to Stony Rapids,SK (Canada) with 22 passengers and 3 crew, was in the initial climb out of Fond-du-Lac at about 18:15L (00:15Z Dec 14th) when the aircraft lost height, collided with trees about 420 meters past the runway end and impacted terrain coming to rest about 600 meters past the runway at approximate position N59.3368 W107.2019. One passenger succumbed to the injuries two weeks after the accident, five passengers and one member of the crew received serious, 18 other occupants received minor injuries, the aircraft sustained substantial damage.Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported all occupants have been accounted for and have been taken to hospitals.On Dec 27th 2017 the family of one of the seriously injured passengers reported, the passenger succumbed to his injuries and died on Dec 27th 2017.The Canadian TSB have dispatched investigators on site.On Dec 14th 2017 the TSB reported that both flight data and cockpit voice recorder are being sent to the TSB lab in Ottawa.On Dec 15th 2017 the TSB reported: "On 13 December 2017, a ATR42-320 operated by West Wind Aviation with 22 passengers and 3 crew on board collided with terrain shortly after take-off from the Fond-du-Lac Airport, Saskatchewan (ZFD) for a flight to Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan (YSF). The aircraft sustained substantial damage. A number of passengers and one crew member sustained serious injuries. The TSB is investigating."On Dec 16th 2017 the TSB reported that the aircraft lost height and descended into trees and terrain leaving a wreckage trail of 800 feet length. The aircraft came to rest in an upright position steeply tilted to the right, the worst damage occurred to the left side of the airframe, the fuselage ruptured at seat row 3. West Wind have taken all their ATRs out of service for the time being. The French BEA, ATR, Pratt & Whitney are participating in the investigation.On Dec 20th 2017 the TSB reported 6 passengers and one member of the crew sustained serious injuries, 18 other occupants received minor injuries. Both engines were operating normally up to impact. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered and sent for analysis.On Dec 22nd 2017 Transport Canada, Civil Aviation Authority of Canada, suspended the Air Operator Certificate of West Wind stating: "The department took this serious action in the interest of public safety because the department identified deficiencies in the company’s Operational Control System. An Operational Control System ensures that a company’s day-to-day actions are compliant with safety requirements for things such as, for example, the dispatching of personnel and aircraft. On December 13, 2017, a West Wind Aviation aircraft, with 25 people onboard, crashed in Fond-du-Lac, Saskatchewan. Transport Canada identified deficiencies during a post-accident inspection of West Wind Aviation from December 18 to 20, 2017. As a result, in the interest of public safety, Transport Canada suspended West Wind Aviation’s Air Operator Certificate and will not allow the company to resume its commercial air service until it demonstrates compliance with aviation safety regulations."On Jan 5th 2018 the TSB confirmed one of the passengers died 12 days after the accident. The investigation determined the aircraft collided with trees about 1400 feet (420m) past the runway end during initial climb.On Apr 24th 2018 the TSB reported the aircraft had encountered icing conditions during the approach to Fond-du-Lac, the crew had activated the anti-icing and de-icing systems on board of the aircraft. After landing, when the anti-icing and de-icing systems were turned off, residual ice remained on portions of the aircraft. Although manual de-icing equipment was available at the terminal, the aircraft departed with ice contamination still present and lost height shortly after takeoff. The manual de-icing equipment available at the terminal consisted of two ladders, a hand-held spray bottle with electric blanekt and wand and a container of de-icing fluid.Local volunteer fire fighter Raymond Sanger wrote: "Quite a show tonight. Thank to all the helpers rangers. Black lake rescued teams. And everyone that helped out. I guess we’re not alone. We’ve been looked after by garden Engels tonight. And thank you God for being there with us all. All that fuel was like raining. Still nothing happened. FDL. Beautiful team work."West Wind Aviation currently operates three ATR-42s: C-GWEA, C-GWWD and C-GWWC. On Dec 13th 2017 C-GWEA was seen departing Saskatoon,SK for Prince Albert,SK (Canada), the first segment of flight WEW-280, and departing Prince Albert for Fond-du-Lac, the second segment of flight WEW-280. The aircraft left radar coverage about half way into Fond-du-Lac and has not re-entered radar coverage since.No weather data are available for Fond-du-Lac, the next station at Stony Rapids, located 41nm east of Fond-du-Lac,The de-icing equiment - except ladders - available at Fond-du-Lac (Photo: TSB):Daylight photos of the accident site (Photos: TSB):Tail section, photo added Dec 15th 2017 (Photo: Clayton Mercredi):Scenes at the accident site (Photo: Raymond Sanger):Map (Graphics: AVH/Google Earth): | Air crash | April 2018 | ['(The Aviation Herald)'] |
NATObacked Afghan security forces end a 12hour siege carried out by Taliban insurgents on the Spozhmai Hotel outside Kabul, killing all five insurgents. | Afghan security forces have ended a 12-hour attack by Taliban militants on a hotel outside Kabul, in which at least 20 people died, officials say.
Insurgents attacked the Spozhmai Hotel in the Lake Qargha area on Thursday night, taking many hostages.
Kabul's police chief said 15 civilians, including hotel guests, died. All five insurgents were killed. The Taliban claimed the attack, saying the hotel was used by wealthy Afghans and foreigners for "wild parties". Lake Qargha is on the outskirts of Kabul and is favoured by residents of the Afghan capital for day trips and family outings. The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Kabul, says this was an easy target for the Taliban, in a fairly remote area, with little security. Foreigners rarely visit the lake, our correspondent says.
In addition to the five militants, those killed included civilians, hotel guards and a police officer. Dozens of people were taken hostage. AFP news agency photographer Massoud Hossaini, who went into the hotel after the siege ended, told the BBC: "All the walls have been torn apart with bullets; all the furniture and all the things that were there like carpets are torn and damaged.
"I saw the bodies of some fighters and their bodies were in bits and pieces. There are a lot of bullets casings here, lots of them."
The gunmen, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, launched the attack on the hotel late on Thursday, officials say.
Gen John Allen, of the Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force, said the "unspeakably brutal attack" bore the "signature" of the Haqqani group.
"There is no doubt that innocent Afghan civilians were the intended targets," he said in a statement.
Gunfire
Maihan Saeedi, who left the area shortly before the attack began, told the BBC the hotel was full of civilians, including women and children. The area was busy because it was Thursday night, the start of the Afghan weekend. "When we left the hotel, we heard gunfire as we reached one of the [three security] checkpoints near the hotel," he said.
"I'm completely shocked at how people managed to cross these checkpoints - it really raises questions over the levels of security, which is all commercialised."
He said one of his friends inside the hotel told him by phone that people were trying to escape by jumping out through the windows and into the lake. "It just shows that the Taliban are there to kill civilians," Mr Saeedi said. The Taliban attacked the hotel because foreigners there were drinking alcohol and participating in other activities banned by Islam, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told the Associated Press.
The security operation was led by Afghan security forces, with support from the US-led coalition. In recent months, the Afghan army and police have taken the lead in battling some of the most challenging insurgent attacks, winning praise and a measure of support from the Afghan population. Violence has recently increased across the country, with at least three US soldiers and about 20 Afghans killed in a series of attacks over the past seven days.
The attacks come as Nato gradually hands responsibility for security to Afghan forces, ahead of the departure of combat troops in 2014. | Armed Conflict | June 2012 | ['(BBC)'] |
Dokka Umarov, a Chechen warlord and one of Russia's most wanted men, claims responsibility for the bombing at Domodedovo International Airport last month. | One of Russia's most wanted men, Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, has said he ordered the deadly bomb attack last month on a Moscow airport.
The suicide attack on the arrivals area of Domodedovo international airport on 24 January left 36 people dead and 180 injured.
In a video posted online, Mr Umarov said the attack was a response to "Russian crimes in the Caucasus".
Similar suicide attacks would continue, he added, speaking in Russian.
Mr Umarov is self-styled leader of the "Caucasus Emirate" and is considered the head of the Islamist militant insurgency in the North Caucasus. He is one of the few prominent Chechen rebels still active, having served as security minister in the Chechen separatist government from 1996-99.
Another video of the rebel leader was posted online late on Friday last week in which he threatened a year of "blood and tears" but made no explicit reference to the airport bombing.
Doku Umarov has previously claimed the March 2010 suicide bombings on the Moscow Metro in which 39 people died, and is said to have ordered the November 2009 bombing of a train from Moscow to St Petersburg that left 26 dead.
The video which appeared on the Kavkaz Tsentr website is dated 24 January, the day of the attack.
Appearing alone, dressed in combat fatigues, Mr Umarov speaks to the camera: "This special operation was carried out on my orders and, God willing, special operations like it will continue to be carried out."
He goes on to argue that Muslims are under attack all over the world, talking at length about the situation in Sudan, and condemns "Zionist and Christian regimes led by Israel and America".
Mr Umarov says that he and his fighters "are waging jihad in the Caucasus today to establish the word of Allah", and there are "hundreds more brothers" ready to sacrifice themselves to that end, in the fight with Russia's "racist regime". Promising "regular, deeper and more aggressive operations", he says he wishes that so much blood did not have to be spilt for Russia to "leave the Caucasus".
Russian investigators say the suicide bomber who struck at Domodedovo Airport was a 20-year-old man from the North Caucasus.
Although the attacker has not been named officially, unnamed officials told the Interfax news agency on Sunday that he was believed to be Magomed Yevloyev from a village in Ingushetia in the northern Caucasus.
In the video of Doku Umarov posted last Friday, the rebel leader is flanked by two men, one of whom the rebel leader claims is preparing a "special operation". Russian media have suggested that the man in the video, named "Seifullah" by Mr Umarov, was Yevloyev.
At least seven foreigners were killed in the bombing at the airport - the busiest serving the Russian capital. The arrivals hall was full of people as several international flights had just landed.
Those killed included one person each from Britain, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. At least 16 Russians were also among the dead.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked several officials - said to include a regional transport chief and a Moscow police deputy head - after the bombing, blaming them for poor security.
| Armed Conflict | February 2011 | ['(BBC)', '(Al Jazeera)'] |
A man in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, is arrested for attempting to steal one of four existing original copies of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral. | A hammer-wielding man has been arrested after an attempted smash and grab of a Magna Carta from its display at Salisbury Cathedral.
Alarms went off when the would-be thief tried to break through the glass box which protects the charter on Thursday.
The suspect was held on suspicion of attempted theft of the document - claimed to be the best preserved of four original Magna Cartas.
It was not damaged and nobody was injured, police said.
The man was wrestled to the ground by staff when he attempted to flee after the attempted raid at 16:45 BST, the Dean of Salisbury said.
The Very Reverend Nick Papadopoulos said: "There were people around so the cry went up, it was pretty thick glass so it hadn't yielded easily despite having a hammer hit it.
"It was a great shock but everyone responded magnificently, both our staff and volunteers and members of the public. "They raised a cry and he did not get away."
The drama unfolded just before Evensong near to closing time at the visitor centre.
Dean Papadopoulos added: "He had been carrying a hammer so our guys were very courageous.
"They were able to restrain him and they held him for 12 minutes." A silent alarm was activated which alerted staff to the disturbance, he added.
A 45-year-old man is being held on suspicion of attempted theft, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.
He has been taken to Melksham police station where he is being questioned.
Magna Carta is a charter of rights agreed by King John in 1215. It is considered one of Britain's most influential legal manuscripts.
Several versions were sent around the country "as evidence of the King's decision", according to Salisbury Cathedral's website. Only four original copies survive today, and the cathedral is home to what is claimed to be "the most beautiful".
The charter was put on display at the cathedral three years ago as part of an exhibition funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The charter has been removed for safe-keeping while the case is refurbished, Dean Papadopoulos said.
A facsimile copy of the charter will be displayed, and the visitor centre will re-open as soon as possible.
Magna Carta outlined basic rights with the principle that no one was above the law, including the king.
It charted the right to a fair trial, and limits on taxation without representation.
It inspired a number of other documents, including the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Only three clauses are still valid - the one guaranteeing the liberties of the English Church; the clause confirming the privileges of the city of London and other towns; and the clause that states that no free man shall be imprisoned without the lawful judgement of his equals.
The British Library has two copies of the 1215 Magna Carta.
Source: The British Library
The historical document is encased in two glass layers, Dean Papadopoulos added.
"The layer that is closest to the document itself was completely untouched by the individual concerned, but his hammer did do some damager to the initial glass screen."
Two copies of the Magna Carta that date from 1215 are held by the British Library and go on regular display there.
The Salisbury copy went on display in 2015 in the 13th Century Chapter House at the cathedral.
Best-preserved Magna Carta on show
BBC History | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Accuse | October 2018 | ['(NPR)', '(BBC News)'] |
Abu Sayyaf frees a Norwegian hostage for a ransom of ₱30 million (US$638,000) and releases three kidnapped Indonesians from Sabah. | MANILA: Three Indonesian fishermen held by Islamic State-linked rebels in the Philippines have been released, the Philippine military said on Sunday, just hours after the militias freed a Norwegian man after a year-long ordeal.
The victims - identified as Lorens Koten, Teodurus Kofung and Emmanuel - were released by the Abu Sayyaf on Saturday night at an undisclosed place in Sulu, said Major Filemon Tan, spokesman in the military’s Western Mindanao Command. They were taken on July 9 this year from Malaysian state of Sabah, he said.
The Indonesians were set free just hours after the same group notorious for kidnappings, beheadings and extortion released Norwegian captive Kjartan Sekkingstad, who was set to meet President Rodrigo Duterte in Davao City on Sunday evening.
Sekkingstad was taken from an upscale resort on Samal island in Davao del Norte along with a Filipina, who has already been freed, and two Canadians, whom the militants later executed.
While it is widely believed that no captives are released by the Abu Sayyaf without the payment of ransom, the Philippine government said it did not pay the group and was unaware of any payment made by other parties for the release of the victims.
“I would like to reiterate that the government maintains the no-ransom policy,” Communications Minister Martin Andanar said. Now if there was a third party who made the payment, if it’s the family (of the victim), we are not aware of that.”
Tan said Sekkingstad and the three Indonesians were flown separately on Sunday afternoon from Jolo, Sulu. The Indonesians have been turned over to Indonesian authorities, he said without giving further details.
Tan insists the release of the kidnap victims was a result of the ongoing intensified military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, with the assistance of the Moro National Liberation Front, one of the two major Muslim rebel groups based in the south of the mainly Catholic nation. --Reuters | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release | September 2016 | ['(Interaksyon)', '(Rappler)', '(Reuters via The New Straits Times)'] |
Robert Mugabe's indiginisation law begins, with 51 per cent of each company being given to black Zimbabweans. | A new Zimbabwean law that forces companies to sell a majority stake in their businesses to indigenous people has come into effect.
Firms worth more than $500,000 (£332,000) run by non-indigenous people have five years to sell a 51% stake, upon the threat of jail sentences. Harare-based economist John Robertson told the BBC's Network Africa programme that it was "a very bad idea". He said it would only deter further badly-needed foreign investment. "The government appears to have no wish at all to make the country attractive to the [overseas] investors," said Mr Robertson. Government split
The new rule - dubbed the indigenisation law - is seen as an extension of the government's seizure of white-owned farms, which started approximately 10 years ago. That controversial programme was widely considered a failure, as many of the seized farms have remained dormant. This resulted in Zimbabwe - once known as the bread basket of Africa - having to become a net importer of food, sparking hyper inflation. The law on company ownership has further divided Zimbabwe's already strained unity government. President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly defended the law, saying that firms would be "foolish" not to comply. By contrast, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has rejected the law, saying it was published without due process. Investment 'needed'
Mr Robertson added that it was likely to have the same negative impact as the farm seizures. "As soon as the skills are taken away from the businesses they now have their eye on, those businesses will also fail," he said. He added that far from empowering the wider population, the move would only benefit those individuals that the government appoints to take control of the companies. The main trade union group, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has also warned that the new law could have negative consequences. "Although the principle of the law is good, we fear that this could lead to a creation of new minority blacks who will just replace the minority whites," said ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo. "The law should have not been rushed, we are just coming out of a self-inflicted economic crisis. "This law could create fears that the process could be chaotic, just like the land reform, which will affect the economic recovery of the country and we do not need this right now as we need investments." A previous version of this story referred to "foreign-owned" companies being affected by the law, however this has now been amended to reflect the fact that the law applies to all firms controlled by non-indigenous Zimbabweans. | Government Policy Changes | March 2010 | ['(Al Jazeera)', '(BBC)', '(Voice of America)'] |
The Department of Health and Human Services declares the coronavirus a public health emergency in the United States. | The Trump administration on Friday declared the coronavirus a public health emergency in the United States, and announced that certain foreign nationals deemed to pose a risk of transmitting the disease will temporarily be denied entry to the U.S. Some returning American citizens potentially at risk will be quarantined.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that President Donald Trump signed an order for the U.S. to deny entry to any foreign nationals who have traveled in China within the past two weeks, aside from the immediate family of U.S. citizens.
Azar, speaking to reporters at the White House, also said that any U.S. citizens who have been in Chinas Hubei province home of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus within the last 14 days will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine to ensure theyre provided proper medical care and health screening. Also starting Sunday, U.S. citizens returning from other parts of mainland China will also face screenings and two weeks of monitoring and self-quarantine.
The risk to the American public is low at this time, said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Azar called the measures fairly incremental and appropriate, preventative steps. Yet, officials said they wanted to ensure it would remain a low risk to Americans.
Ken Cuccinelli, acting Homeland Security deputy secretary, another member of the White House task force on the coronavirus, said incoming flights from China will be limited to just seven airports San Francisco, Los Angeles International Airport, Seattle, New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport, Atlanta, Honolulu and Chicagos OHare beginning Sunday.
The briefing came as markets plunged over fears about the fast-spreading virus potential economic impact.
The Trump administration officials noted a sharp drop in passenger traffic between the U.S. and China but that U.S.-bound traffic was more resilient as American citizens return. On Friday, U.S. airlines announced they would halt their mainland China service. Delta, United and American announced they would suspend all remaining service to mainland China after a State Department warning put a damper on demand for flights there.
Dozens of other large U.S. corporations, including Apple, Ford and Kraft Heinz, have already restricted their employees China business travel or scaled back operations because of the outbreak.
Air traffic between the U.S. and China has surged in the last decade. In 2009, there were more than 4,880 flights a year between the two countries and more than 17,760 last year, according to consulting firm ICF.
Dozens of airlines around the world have curtailed or halted China service, leaving the country increasingly isolated.
Airlines have said ticket sales for China have dropped sharply, a trend that will likely dent their first-quarter revenues.
The briefing included members of President Donald Trumps coronavirus task force, which includes national security advisor Robert OBrien, Azar and other leading officials.
Earlier Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quarantined 195 Americans who have been evacuated from Wuhan.
As of Friday afternoon, the coronavirus had infected roughly 10,000 people across the globe. In China, the virus is responsible for at least 213 deaths.
Redfield added at the White House news briefing Friday that 191 people in the U.S. are being investigated for the disease.
Correction: Ken Cuccinelli is acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. An earlier version misstated his title. | Disease Outbreaks | January 2020 | ['(CNBC)'] |
US Diplomat John Granville, working for the United States Agency for International Development in Sudan, is murdered. | This undated photo provided by the US Agency for International Development shows John Granville, center. Granville was shot and killed early Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2008 by gunmen in a passing car who cut him off as he was being driven home in Sudan's capital. Sudanese officials insisted it was not a terrorist attack but the U.S. embassy said it was too soon to determine the motive. (AP Photo/USAID)
By MOHAMED OSMAN – 3 days ago KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudanese authorities on Wednesday questioned witnesses in the slaying of an American diplomat who was shot by gunmen in a drive-by attack in the capital.
Sudanese officials insisted the shooting was not a terrorist attack but the U.S. Embassy said it was too soon to determine the motive.
John Granville, 33, an official for the U.S. Agency for International Development, was being driven home at about 4 a.m. Tuesday when another vehicle cut off his car and opened fire before fleeing the scene, the Sudanese Interior Ministry said.
The diplomat's driver, Abdel-Rahman Abbas, was killed. Granville initially survived the attack with five gunshot wounds, but died after surgery, said Walter Braunohler, the public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.
Sudanese police said they have questioned a number of witnesses from the scene of the attack "and investigations are continuing based on their statements," the state news agency SUNA reported Wednesday.
The driver's family said the two victims had been heading home from a New Year's party at the home of a British diplomat. One woman who lives near the site of the attack, Nimat Malik, told a Sudanese newspaper she rushed to help the American.
She said Granville told her, "I am dying, I need help." She told the paper she had some medical training and wanted to try to stop his bleeding using her robes, but others bystanders warned her that she could later face trouble for tampering with evidence.
"But I saw the need to help him so I got the police car to take him to hospital to receive medical assistance," she told the paper.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, and U.S. and Sudanese officials investigating the shooting have not specified any suspects.
The Sudanese government often drums up anti-Western sentiment in the media. But attacks on foreigners are rare in Khartoum, where an American diplomat was last killed in 1973.
Granville was working to implement a 2005 peace agreement between Sudan's north and south that ended more than two decades of civil war, USAID said.
USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore said the two men killed "were serving the common interests of the U.S. and the Sudan in bringing peace and stability to a country that has long been wracked by violence and conflict."
Granville's family in Buffalo, N.Y., said he was committed to his work in Africa.
"John's life was a celebration of love, hope and peace," a family statement said. "He will be missed by many people throughout the world whose lives were touched and made better because of his care."
Rep. Brian Higgins, a Buffalo-area congressman, said Granville knew his work put his life in danger.
"He told his mom several times ... that it's dangerous, what he's doing, but he wouldn't want to be doing anything else," said Higgins, who spoke with Granville's mother, Jane Granville, after her son's death.
Sudan's Foreign Ministry said the incident was "isolated and has no political or ideological connotations" and pledged to bring the culprits to justice.
But Braunohler, the embassy spokesman, said it was "too early to tell" whether the attack was related to terrorism.
The shooting came a day after a joint U.N.-African peacekeeping force took over control in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, where more than 200,000 have died in a conflict that began in 2003. Al-Qaida has called for a "jihad" or holy war, in Sudan against the peacekeepers.
But al-Qaida has shown little overt presence in the country in recent years since the Sudanese government threw out Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s.
Al-Qaida was blamed in the 2002 assassination of an American USAID officer, Laurence Foley, who was gunned down outside his home in Amman, Jordan.
Humanitarian aid workers have come under increasing attack in Darfur by the region's multiple armed groups, but such attacks have not been known to take place in Khartoum. In any case, Granville's work appeared to be focused on providing aid for Sudan's south, well away from Darfur.
The U.S. government has been a vocal critic of the Arab-dominated government's attacks on ethnic Africans in Darfur. A government-allied militia known as the janjaweed has been accused of the bulk of atrocities in the Darfur conflict, including rapes and razing of ethnic African villages.
In the latest step to pressure Sudan's government on Darfur, President Bush signed legislation to allow states and local governments to cut investment ties with Sudan because of the Darfur violence.
Granville is the first U.S. diplomat to be killed in Sudan since the 1973 assassination of U.S. Ambassador Cleo Noel, slain along with senior embassy officer George Curtis Moore by the Palestinian Black September militant group. | Famous Person - Death | January 2008 | ['(AP via Google News)'] |
A South Korean legislator claims North Korea is holding 154,000 of its citizens in gulags. | North Korea still runs six prison camps holding 154,000 political prisoners, a South Korean lawmaker has said.
Yoon Sang-hyun, of the ruling Grand National Party, said inmates worked long hours in return for meagre food rations, reported Yonhap news agency. Mr Yoon said he was basing his claims on a South Korean government report. North Korea denies claims it abuses human rights. Earlier this year it amended its constitution to refer to its "respect" for human rights. But human rights groups and North Korean refugees describe blatant, widespread and ongoing violations of basic rights in the Stalinist country. In his statement to the National Assembly, Mr Yoon said North Korea used to operate 10 labour camps holding some 200,000 people in the 1990s, but had closed four under international pressure. But he said six large camps were still going, holding dissidents, those who had attempted to flee the country, the losers in political power struggles, and ordinary North Koreans accused of being disrespectful towards the leadership. 'Crimes against humanity'
These 154,000 inmates - who are held in separate prisons from common criminals - are forced to work more than 10 hours a day on only 200g (7oz) of food, and are denied medical care, Mr Yoon said. "North Korea perpetrates various crimes against humanity, including public executions, tortures or rapes, against those who try to escape," Mr Yoon was quoted as saying. Observers say that over recent years South Korea has often been reluctant to highlight evidence of rights abuses in its northern neighbour for fear of jeopardising attempts at rapprochement. But South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak pledged to be more openly critical of the North's authoritarian regime when he took office last year. | Famous Person - Give a speech | October 2009 | ['(Yonhap)', '(AFP)', '(BBC)'] |
The death toll rises to 35. Also, about 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs were killed in flooding from Hurricane Florence as rising North Carolina rivers swamped dozens of farm buildings where the animals were being raised for market. | About 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs have been killed in flooding from Florence as rising North Carolina rivers swamped dozens of farm buildings where the animals were being raised for market, according to state officials.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture issued the livestock mortality totals Tuesday, as major flooding is continuing after the slow-moving storm's drenching rains. Sixteen North Carolina rivers were at major flood stage Tuesday, with an additional three forecasted to peak by Thursday.
The Department of Environmental Quality said the earthen dam at one hog lagoon in Duplin County had breached, spilling its contents. Another 25 of the pits containing animal feces and urine have either suffered structural damage, had wastewater levels go over their tops from heavy rains or had been swamped by floodwaters. Large mounds of manure are also typically stored at poultry farms.
North Carolina is among the top states in the nation in producing pork and poultry, with about 9 million hogs at any given time and 819 million chickens and 34 million turkeys raised each year.
The N.C. Pork Council, an industry trade group, said the livestock losses from the storm should be taken in the context.
"Our farmers took extraordinary measures in advance of this storm, including moving thousands of animals out of harm's way as the hurricane approached," the group said in a statement issued Tuesday. "We believe deeply in our commitment to provide care for our animals amid these incredibly challenging circumstances."
The industry lost about 2,800 hogs during flooding from Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Sanderson Farms, a major poultry producer in the state, said it lost about 1.7 million chickens after flooding at more than 60 of the independent farms that supply its poultry processing plants. The company said its facilities suffered no major damage, but supply disruptions and flooded roadways had caused shutdowns at some plants.
In addition, about 30 farms near Lumberton have been isolated by flood waters, hampering the delivery of feed to animals. The lack of food could cause additional birds to die if access isn't restored quickly, the company said.
Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, said its plants also suffered no significant damage and are operating at limited capacity. The company said it would ramp up production as roads become passable.
An environmental threat is also posed by human waste as low-lying municipal sewage plants flood. On Sunday, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority reported that more than 5 million gallons of partially treated sewage had spilled into the Cape Fear River after power failed at its treatment plant.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that 16 community water treatment facilities in North Carolina are unable to supply drinking water and that seven publicly owned sewage treatment works are non-operational due to the flooding.
Duke Energy is continuing cleanup operations Tuesday following a weekend breach at a coal ash landfill at its L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington.
Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said a full assessment of how much ash escaped from the waterlogged landfill is ongoing. The company initially estimated Saturday that about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash were displaced, enough to fill about 180 dump trucks.
The coal-fired Sutton plant was retired in 2013 and replaced with a new facility that burns natural gas. The company has been excavating millions of tons of leftover ash from old pits there and removing the waste to a new lined landfill constructed on the property. The gray ash left behind when coal is burned contains toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury.
Photos from the site provided to AP by Cape Fear River Watch, an environmental advocacy group, show cascades of gray-colored water spilling from at least two breaches at the landfill and flowing toward Sutton Lake, the plant's former cooling pond which is now used for public recreation, including fishing and boating.
Sutton Lake drains into the Cape Fear River. Sheehan said Duke's assessment is that there was minimal chance any contaminants from the spill had reached the river.
At a different power plant near Goldsboro, three old coal ash dumps capped with soil were inundated by the Neuse River. Duke said they had no indication those dumps at the H.F. Lee Power Plant were leaking ash into the river.
Duke's handling of ash waste has faced intense scrutiny since a drainage pipe collapsed under a waste pit at an old plant in Eden in 2014, triggering a massive spill that coated 70 miles (110 kilometers) of the Dan River in gray sludge. The utility later agreed to plead guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations and pay $102 million in fines and restitution for illegally discharging pollution from ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. It plans to close all its ash dumps by 2029.
In South Carolina, workers with electricity provider Santee Cooper erected a temporary dike in hopes of preventing flooding of an old coal ash dump at the demolished Grainger Generating Station near Conway. The dump is adjacent to the Waccamaw River, which is expected to crest at nearly 20 feet (6 meters) this weekend. That's nine feet above flood stage and would set a new record height.
First published on September 19, 2018 / 8:30 AM
© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Floods | September 2018 | ['(CBS News)', '(Washington Examiner)'] |
Egyptian officials report the arrest of the 27–year–old Israeli–American Ilan Grapel on suspicion of espionage for Israel. Israeli officials have rejected the Egyptian accusations. | Israel has denied Egyptian claims that a suspected Mossad spy was arrested in Cairo, calling them false and baseless.
Egypt's state prosecutor detained the man on Sunday on suspicion of "spying on Egypt with the aim of harming its economic and political interests", the official Mena news agency reported.
Mena said the man posed as a foreign correspondent covering anti-government protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
He tried to sow sectarian strife and turn people against the army, it said.
President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on 11 February, after a three-week uprising against his nearly 30-year rule. The suspect's aim was to "spread chaos" and cause a "security breakdown" in the days following Mr Mubarak's departure, a statement issued by Egypt's public prosecutor said.
Israeli officials have denied the allegations.
"There is no such thing, no Israeli agent has been arrested in Egypt," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the BBC on Monday. "These reports are false. So far we did not receive any information from the Egyptian authorities on an Israeli citizen who has been arrested," he added.
Following the departure of Mr Mubarak - who co-operated with Israel on security matters - tensions have flared between the two neighbours.
Cairo's new military rulers have eased restrictions at a Gaza border crossing that Mr Mubarak had kept tightly controlled.
There has also been pressure on Egypt's military council to cancel or alter a contract under which Egypt sells natural gas to Israel.
Critics say the price is too low, and that Mr Mubarak's associates took bribes to seal the deal.
Egypt resumed pumping gas on Friday after a pipeline blast halted the flow of gas to Israel.
Last month, Egyptian authorities arrested an Iranian diplomat on suspicion of spying during the popular uprising. The diplomat - who had diplomatic immunity - was released with days and flown out of Cairo. | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | June 2011 | ['(BBC)'] |
Typhoon Nepartak hits eastern Taiwan causing three deaths so far, 124 injuries, thousands of people to be evacuated, disrupting transport and power supplies. | TAIPEI (Reuters) - Super typhoon Nepartak hit Taiwan on Friday, driving thousands of people from their homes, disrupting power supplies and grounding more than 600 flights, authorities said.
Television showed toppled motorcycles and signboards being ripped from buildings and swept across roads in southeast Taiwan, where the year’s first typhoon made landfall.
By afternoon, the typhoon had moved into the Taiwan Strait, weakening as it headed towards China’s southeastern province of Fujian, but flooding and strong winds continued to lash the island’s central and southern areas.
More than 17,300 people were evacuated from their homes, and over 517,000 households suffered power outages, emergency officials said.
“The wind is very strong,” said a resident of Taitung, the eastern Taiwan city where the typhoon landed.
“Many hut roofs and signs have been blown off.”
Three deaths and 172 injuries were reported, bullet train services were suspended and over 340 international and 300 domestic flights canceled, an emergency services website showed.
The typhoon halted work in most of Taiwan. There were no reports of damage at semiconductor plants in the south.
Tropical Storm Risk had rated the typhoon as category 5, at the top of its ranking, but it was weakening and should be a tropical storm by the time it hits Fujian on Saturday morning.
More than 4,000 people working on coastal fish farms in Fujian were evacuated and fishing boats recalled to port, the official China News Service said.
The storm is expected to worsen already severe flooding in parts of central and eastern China, particularly in the major city of Wuhan.
Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength over warm waters and dissipating over land.
In 2009, Typhoon Morakot cut a swathe of destruction through southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people and causing damage of up to $3 billion.
| Hurricanes_Tornado_Storm_Blizzard | July 2016 | ['(Reuters)', '(CNN)'] |
British detectives continue the hunt for suspects in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and the 2007 London car bombs plot. Two doctors are among the seven people currently in custody in the UK in connection with the attacks with another person held in Brisbane, Queensland. | A 27-year-old man arrested in Queensland in connection with Britain's foiled car bomb plot was a registrar at the Gold Coast hospital, Attorney General Phillip Ruddock has revealed.
Police executed a number of search warrants in south-east Queensland, including at the hospital in Southport, after the man's arrest at Brisbane International Airport last night, Mr Ruddock told reporters in Canberra this morning.
"There were suggestions from the UK that in the context of their investigations there was some interest in (a) person abroad," he said.
"The situation is that the AFP Queensland Police acting on this advice that we have received specifically from UK authorities detained a 27-year-old man at Brisbane International Airport last night."
"The man is currently assisting police with their inquiries. No charges have been laid."
Suspect 'trying to leave Australia'
Mr Ruddock said the man was attempting to leave Australia.
"The man was seeking to leave Australia and did not have a return ticket," he said.
When asked if the man was an Australian citizen, Mr Ruddock said: "My understanding is that the gentleman has been resident in Australia."
Australia would not be raising its terror threat level because it had no information a specific attack was planned, he said.
"The only other advice that I can give you is that while these matters are obviously of concern, there is no information that suggests the terror alert at medium should be varied," he said.
"And as I've said over the last day or so, when I use those words I use them very deliberately because what it means is that while a terrorist attack could certainly be possible in Australia, we have no specific information about any such planned action here."
Hospital 'stunned'
Reported claims by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock that a man arrested at Brisbane airport last night in connection with the foiled UK terror plot was a registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital, have caught the hospital's management in Southport by surprise.
This is what one stunned hospital official had to say just before 10.30am: "Our switchboard's jammed at the moment and our public affairs lines are ringing constantly. So I've been instructed to tell people that we're unable to comment at the moment until we get more information and as soon as we do, we'll be preparing a media statement."
'Be calm'
Earlier this morning, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said a number of search warrants were being executed across south-east Queensland.
"Queenslanders, I just want to say, need to be calm about this," Mr Beattie said.
"We are not aware of any threat to any building or any activity in Queensland at all, so the threat remains as it was prior to this arrest."
British police said in a statement the man was arrested at an undisclosed location in connection with the investigation into the incidents in London and Glasgow.
"He remains in custody," British police said.
The BBC earlier reported the man was arrested overseas, but did not say in which country.
Doctors held
Two Arab doctors, both licensed to work in Britain, are among the eight people held in connection with the foiled attacks, a police source said. The source named Bilal Abdulla, who qualified as a doctor in Baghdad in 2004, as one of the men held after ramming a jeep into a Glasgow airport terminal and setting it alight in a spectacular fireball on Saturday. Mohammed Asha, 26, a second doctor who qualified in Jordan the same year, was arrested with his wife on Saturday evening when unmarked police cars blocked a motorway in northern England to stop their car. Attacks linked Scotland Yard police declined to comment on a report on the website Muslim News that another suspect, arrested in Liverpool, was also a doctor, from India.
British authorities say the Glasgow attack and the London bombs are linked, and suspect radical Islamists of being behind them. None of the suspects has been charged, and police have up to four weeks to question them. A security source said there was no indication the alleged plot involved bioterrorism or required specialist medical knowledge.
Not 'a surprise' The source declined to discuss the individuals arrested but said that in previous investigations "we have seen people who are well educated, from good middle-class backgrounds. I don't think it's a surprise." Britain's National Health Service employs large numbers of foreign doctors. A spokeswoman for the General Medical Council, with whom both Abdulla and Asha are registered to work in Britain, said: "We are in contact with the police and will be cooperating with them where it's appropriate to do so." Foreign doctors coming to Britain must pass written tests and a clinical examination, and inquiries are also made with their home universities. "We validate your medical qualifications with the university where you studied, we validate your identity, we go through a series of checks," spokeswoman Tanya Royer said. Successful applicants gain 'limited registration', entitling them to work as junior doctors in Britain typically for six months to one year, with a maximum of five years, she said. with Chris Evans, AAP, Reuters | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | July 2007 | ['(BBC)', '(BBC)', '(BBC)', '(The Melbourne Age)'] |
A U.S. drone attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region kills at least 10 suspected militants. | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan An American drone strike in the frontier tribal areas of Pakistan killed 10 suspected militants Sunday, Pakistani officials said. It was sixth such strike in two weeks as the U.S. pushes ahead with its drone campaign in the face of Pakistani demands to stop.
The continued attacks emphasize the importance the U.S. government puts on the drone campaign, which it considers to be a vital tool in the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials say four missiles were fired at targets in the village of Mana Raghzai in South Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan on Sunday morning.
At the time of the attack, suspected militants were gathered to offer condolences to the brother of a militant commander killed during another American unmanned drone attack on Saturday. The brother was one of those who died in the Sunday morning strike. The Pakistani officials said two of the dead were foreigners, and the rest were Pakistani.
The American drone campaign has been a source of deep frustration and tension between the U.S. and Pakistan.
Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. stepped up its drone campaign in the border areas as a way to combat al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who were using Pakistan as a base for attacks against American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. However, the number of drone attacks has eased in recent years.
Secretly, many Pakistani military commanders are believed to support the drone campaign. But among the Pakistani public, where the U.S. is viewed with mistrust, the drone strikes are considered an affront to the nation’s sovereignty.
The Pakistani government and parliament have repeatedly asked the U.S. to stop the drone strikes.
The ongoing attacks are also complicating efforts for the U.S. and Pakistan to come to an agreement over reopening the supply routes to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan. American airstrikes inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, prompting Islamabad to block U.S. and NATO supply lines running throught its territory.
Pakistan has demanded an apology over the raid and an end to drone strikes as a precursor to reopening the supply lines. But the U.S. has shown no intention of ending the attacks.
Also Sunday, gunmen killed four Shiite minority Muslims, a police officer and a bystander in a busy market of southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, said police officer Abdul Wahid. He said police were investigating who could be behind the attack, but that it had a sectarian motive.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Pakistan became the scene of a proxy war between mostly Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, with both sides funneling money to sectarian groups that regularly targeted each other.
The level of sectarian violence has declined somewhat since then, but attacks continue. In recent years, Sunni attacks on Shiites have been far more common. | Armed Conflict | June 2012 | ['(AP via Boston Herald)'] |
A court sentences terror convict Sahayb Abu to life imprisonment with a minimum term of nineteen years for plotting a gun and knife attack in Dagenham, London. | An east London man who called himself the Masked Menace has been jailed for life for plotting a terror attack during the coronavirus pandemic.
Islamic State (IS) supporter Sahayb Abu bought an 18-inch sword, a knife, balaclavas and body armour online.
The 27-year-old from Dagenham was arrested on 9 July after discussing guns with an undercover police officer.
He will serve a minimum of 19 years after being found guilty in March of preparing an act of terrorism. He had told jurors at the Old Bailey that he bought the items to make a parody video because he had wanted to "create a rap character" that would make people "cry with laughter".
Abu said he wanted to become a successful rapper like Stormzy and posted videos online of himself rapping about bombs and eliminating opponents. He said the name of his "persona" was the Masked Menace and that he hoped to get famous through his music and that his videos would get noticed and lead to sponsorship.
But a jury found Abu guilty after deliberating for more than 21 hours.
Abu was previously convicted of a commercial burglary in June 2018 and served his sentence at Wandsworth and High Down jails alongside inmates convicted of terrorism offences.
Abu was released from prison on 20 March last year, less than four months before his arrest.
He met the undercover officer, who was commended by Judge Mark Dennis QC, on a Telegram chat group for supporters of IS.
His brother Muhamed Abu, 32, of Norwood, south London, was cleared of failing to tell authorities about the plot.
Sahayb is one of several extremist siblings from the same London family:
Passing sentence, Judge Dennis told Abu: "You of all people, having seen what befell your two younger brothers when they signed up to join the Isis cause in 2015 and having seen the course other members of your family have taken...resulting in prison sentences, should have made you, at the mature age of 27, turn your back on the violent extremist cause and promote instead peace and community that underlies the Islamic faith.
"Instead, within weeks of your own release, you joined others committed to joining that same cause."
Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "He is an extremely dangerous individual but thanks to the efforts of counter-terrorism officers and MI5, he will now spend a considerable time behind bars where he poses no risk to public safety.
"This is a prime example of how our officers and the security services are working together to keep people safe. Every day, counter-terrorism teams are identifying and targeting individuals and groups with terrorist intent."
He added that as coronavirus restrictions were easing and more people were seeing family and friends, going to shops and places to eat, they should be vigilant and report anything suspicious as the threat from terrorism "has not gone away".
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | April 2021 | ['(BBC)'] |
The predominantly African American Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville Mississippi burned down to brick walls and spray painted with "Vote Trump" in what appeared to be a political hate crime. Andrew McClinton, a black member of the church was arrested, charged and later pleaded guilty to burning the church in a race hoax | JACKSON, Miss. — A member of a black church in Mississippi has pleaded guilty to burning the church, which was also spray painted with the slogan “Vote Trump,” a week before the 2016 presidential election.
Andrew McClinton, 47, pleaded guilty to arson Thursday, the Delta Democrat-Times reported. His sentencing is set for late April.
Investigators said McClinton belonged to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, which was vandalized and burned.
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the state fire marshal, told The Associated Press that investigators believe the graffiti was intended as a distraction from some other sort of wrongdoing. Chaney would not specify what that was.
“He tried to make the arson appear it was politically motivated, but it was not,” Chaney said.
This is a Mississippi Department of Public Safety-provided and undated state driver’s license photograph of Andrew McClinton, of Leland, Miss. McClinton, a member of a black church in Mississippi, has pleaded guilty to burning the church, which was also spray painted with the slogan “Vote Trump,” a week before the 2016 presidential election. (Mississippi Department of Public Safety via AP, File)
Greenville, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) northwest of Jackson, is a Mississippi River port city that’s a hub of commerce in the cotton-growing Delta. About 78 percent of the city’s 32,100 residents are African-American.
McClinton will be sentenced as a habitual offender because he was convicted of attempted armed robbery in 1997 and armed robbery in 2004, both in another part of Mississippi.
Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was founded in 1905 in the heart of an African-American neighborhood, and the congregation has about 200 members. Some walls of the beige brick church survived the fire, but the remaining walls were torn down. A new structure was built in its place.
During the first months after the fire, Hopewell members have worshipped in the chapel at First Baptist Church of Greenville, which has a predominantly white congregation.
Greenville Mayor Errick D. Simmons initially urged officials to investigate the church burning as a possible hate crime. Simmons is African-American and had been elected months earlier on a platform of seeking racial unity.
The mayor’s twin, Democratic state Sen. Derrick Simmons, told AP in December 2016 that his brother had taken the right approach.
“There is a dark past in America and in the Deep South regarding the burning of African-American churches,” Derrick Simmons said. “The way law enforcement authorities initially investigated this matter as a hate crime I believe was warranted, considering the past and the history.” | Famous Person - Commit Crime - Arrest | November 2016 | ['(WREG)'] |
According to the United Nations, the Philippines has the largest increase in HIV/AIDS in the Asia Pacific region with about a 140% increase in cases from 2010 until 2016 possibly causing a 'national emergency.' , | Dr. Rossana Ditangco warned that the governments current approach to the epidemic means that we cant control the rapid rise of HIV infection.
Ditangco is no fear-monger. The latest statistics from the UNAIDS 2017 report indicates the rate of HIV infection in the Philippines has become the highest in the Asia Pacific region. That data demonstrates that in 2016, 83 percent of new infections in the Philippines occurred among men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men. The sharp rise in new HIV infections in the Philippines since 2010 stands in sharp contrast to decreasing or stagnant rates of new infections in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Philippine Department of Health data indicates that the countrys HIV infection rate grew by 140 percent from 2010 to 2016, with two out of three new HIV infections among 15 to 24-year-old men who have sex with men.
Secretary of Health Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial has responded to this data, by declaring the countrys HIV epidemic one of the top health priorities and sharing plans to increase funding for antiretroviral treatment. Government health experts advocate a treat all approach, under which anyone who tests positive for HIV will immediately be offered treatment, irrespective of their immune system status. The health department also intends to scale up its community-based HIV screening by promoting testing and other services such as risk-reduction and HIV awareness counseling in so-called high burden areasareas with high numbers of new infections.
But amid these official expressions of concern, the government continues to delay the roll out of proven low-tech and low-cost interventions that can address the spread of HIV among men who have sex with men. Instead, it should immediately implement the recommendations from a recent Human Rights Watch report and remove current official obstacles to condom access and usage as well as ensure that schools include safer sex and HIV prevention education in the curriculum. The government should also reactivate harm reduction programs targeting injecting drug use, particularly in Cebu City. Likewise, the government needs to step up its efforts to eliminate stigma and discrimination, which are key factors in discouraging or preventing key affected populations being tested or treated.
The worsening severity of the Philippines HIV epidemic is unquestionable. The Philippines government needs to demonstrate its finally willing to adequately address it.
| Disease Outbreaks | August 2017 | ['(ABC.net.au)', '(Human Rights Watch)'] |
Nana Akufo–Addo is sworn in as the fifth President of Ghana. | Nana Akufo-Addo has been sworn in as Ghana's new president after beating John Mahama in last month's election.
Heads of state from across Africa and thousands of guests and dignitaries watched him take the oath of office at a ceremony in the capital, Accra.
Mr Akufo-Addo, a 72-year-old former human rights lawyer, promised free high school education and more factories.
But critics have questioned the viability of his ambitions.
Mr Akufo-Addo's inauguration represents the latest peaceful handover of power in Ghana. Taking the oath of office in the capital's Independence Square on Saturday, he promised to "protect and defend" Ghana's constitution. He said he would reduce taxes to boost the economy, adding that Ghana was now "opened for business again". Mr Akufo-Addo later posted the full text of the presidential oath on the social media site Twitter, using the hashtag #Inauguration2017.
He tweeted that his position was was not an avenue for making money and that he would not disappoint the people of Ghana.
Mr Akufo-Addo, from the New Patriotic Party, was elected on his third attempt to reach the post, after a campaign dominated by the country's faltering economy.
Full profile
Mr Akufo-Addo has previously vowed to revive the country's economy, saying that "there are brighter days ahead".
An economic slump under Mr Mahama led to an International Monetary Fund bail-out.
The former president has defended his record, saying his government had been up against "strong headwinds" that caused growth to slow, public sector debt to rise and the country's currency, the cedi, to fall.
Ghana has been a multi-party democracy since the end of military rule in 1992 and the transition is seen as reinforcing its reputation for the peaceful transfer of power between administrations.
Third time lucky for Nana Akufo-Addo
Opposition leader wins Ghanaian election
Ghanaian elections hinge on economy
Ghana country profile
Setback for EU in legal fight with AstraZeneca
But the drug-maker faces hefty fines if it fails to supply doses of Covid-19 vaccine over the summer. | Government Job change - Appoint_Inauguration | January 2017 | ['(BBC)'] |
Authorities in Russia ask a judge to jail opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny for allegedly breaking a suspended sentence dating back to 2014 and for evading the supervision of Russia's criminal inspection authority. Navalny had previously been asked to return to Russia to report himself to the federal authorities but continues to remain in Germany. He has vowed to return to Russia ahead of the next parliamentary election. | MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian judge has been asked to jail Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in absentia for having allegedly broken the terms of a suspended sentence he had been serving and for other infractions, court documents showed on Tuesday.
Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s leading critics, was airlifted to Germany for treatment in August after collapsing on a plane in what Germany and other Western nations say was an attempt to murder him with a Novichok nerve agent.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service (FSIN) last month ordered him to immediately fly back from Germany, where he is convalescing, and report at a Moscow office or be jailed if he failed to return in time.
It accused him of flouting a suspended sentence he had been serving over a conviction dating from 2014, and of evading the supervision of Russia’s criminal inspection authority. Navalny said the original conviction was politically-motivated.
On Tuesday, a court database showed authorities had requested that the suspended sentence be cancelled, raising the prospect of a custodial sentence instead.
“Putin is so furious I survived his poisoning that he ordered the FSIN to go to court and demand that my suspended prison sentence be changed to a real one,” Navalny tweeted.
His spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh accused Russian authorities of trying to scare Navalny into not returning to Russia, something he has said he intends to do ahead of parliamentary elections due in September next year.
Russia has said it has seen no evidence he was poisoned and has denied trying to harm him. The Kremlin has said Navalny is free to return to Russia at any time like any other Russian citizen.
| Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence | January 2021 | ['(Reuters)'] |
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